Just Like The Weather
by Midnight Rain19
Summary: A collection of Soul x Maka one shots with various weather events playing a role in each story/chapter because no matter if it's raining, snowing, windy or even sunny there's always time for romance. Always complete.
1. Snow

**Author's Note: **It's nice to be writing again after taking a mini-break. I hope people enjoy these Soul x Maka weather one-shots; they've been on my mind for a long time. (The title even comes from the song Like the Weather by 10,000 Maniacs that kind of gave me the idea to do this). Most of these one-shots will either be an AU or take place after the manga ends.

**01 Snow AU**

'_It's finally that time of year again.' _Maka thought to herself with a small smile, as she watched a few small snowflakes pass by her window at her tiny apartment.

It normally didn't snow in Death City at all unless it was maybe later into December or January, but Maka didn't mind the change to colder temperatures as it meant the holidays were coming soon.

Just as Maka was about to open her window to see if any of the snow was actually sticking to the ground, a sudden knock on her door interrupted her.

"Maka, you're still coming with me to meet Liz and the others at the mall, right? Or did you forget?" Tsubaki called out from behind the door.

"I didn't forget! Hold on, let me just put on a jacket." Maka called out, as she quickly went to her closet and put on a simple blue coat before meeting Tsubaki in the living room.

"Didn't you hear me yelling your name? I almost thought about calling you on your cellphone since you weren't answering me." Tsubaki questioned, as the two of them trudged down the damp sidewalk.

Maka laughed lightly at Tsubaki's worry. "Sorry about that, I got so caught up with trying to finish all my readings before we planned to leave and then I noticed it was snowing too…"

Tsubaki shook her head at Maka's excuses as she glanced up at the dusty grey sky with a sigh. "Maka, I know you already read the chapters for our finals ahead of time. There's no reason for you to overwork yourself like this when the exams aren't for 2 more weeks."

Maka let out a huff as she kicked a small pile of snow out of their path. "I'm not overworking myself! You know I enjoy reading and besides, I'm taking a break right now to hang out with you and the others."

Tsubaki only shrugged and nodded her head as they finally approached the mall and greeted Liz who was waving them over to their favorite spot to sit at by the food court.

"I see you guys dressed prepared for this sudden change in weather." Liz mused with a grin, as she gazed over Maka and Tsubaki's winter attire before they took a seat.

"What do you mean by 'sudden change'? I'm pretty sure the news reported that a cold front was going to be coming." Maka replied back.

"Sis just didn't want to stop wearing her summer clothes; sweaters and jackets don't really allow you to show off your figure after all!" Patty said with a chuckle, ignoring the scowl Liz sent her way.

"Can we get this started already? I still have an evening class I have to catch." Kim grumbled out from the table beside them.

Liz nodded her head as she cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "All right ladies, it's time again for our annual Secret Santa gift exchange! The rules are the same as always, today is December 1st, giving each of us about exactly one month to find a gift for whoever's name you draw from the hat before we trade them at Kid's annual New Year's Eve party!"

"Don't forget to mention the prices." Jacqueline cut in, as Kim sent her a nod for bringing that up.

"Oh right, as usual let's keep the gifts to 50 dollars and below. I know we've all been pretty good friends since high school, but we're all pretty much broke college students now and can't afford to spend too much on anything." Liz explained.

Maka leaned her head against her palm and grinned at how excited her friends were as she watched Liz begin to write each of their names down on some scratch paper and put them in the black hat she had brought along. '_I wonder who I'm going to get this year. It doesn't really matter anyways; everyone is so easy to shop for. Liz always wants something related to fashion or clothes, Kim would take money or a gift card, Patty likes anything giraffe-themed, Jackie likes scented candles and Tsubaki usually enjoys any cool weapons or gadgets…'_

"Alright, I've written down everyone's names. Draw a name from the hat and remember, no peeking or telling who you got until the party!" Liz stated eagerly.

Everyone took a crumpled up ball and carefully unopened it so nobody else would see who they got.

Maka hid back her smile as she saw Patty's name on her paper. '_Yup, it's going to be another easy year of shopping for me!'_

Meanwhile, Liz frowned slightly at having read Maka's name on her paper. '_Ah, I got Maka huh? I guess I shouldn't complain since she never really wants anything special, but still…'_

"Well, now that we each got a name I need to get going. The last time I was late to class my professor almost didn't let me in." Kim said, as she got up from her seat.

Maka watched her go before frowning as a thought occurred to her. "Oh crap, I almost forget! I promised the librarian I would help her clean up at 4! I better get going too."

"Maka always has something on her plate, doesn't she?" Jacqueline asked, as she watched Maka put back on her coat and head down the hallway with Kim.

"She's always trying to keep herself busy with one thing or another." Tsubaki said with a frown.

Liz rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she listened to their conversation. "Hey guys, I know I'm breaking our Secret Santa rule, but what should I get Maka?! She never really changes up what she wants."

Patty looked up from the doodle she was drawing on the back of her paper and laughed. "Maka is probably the easiest person to shop for out of all of us Sis! You should be happy that you got her."

Liz only pouted as she slumped into her chair. "I know, but Maka always just wants some new book. I want to get her something different this year that will actually surprise her."

"What did you have in mind?" Tsubaki asked curiously.

Liz shrugged her shoulders before meeting Tsubaki's indigo eyes with a sigh. "I was hoping you guys could help me with that part."

"Maka pretty much has everything she needs though. She stays off campus at an apartment with Tsubaki, works part-time at the library and still manages to get good grades in her classes." Jacqueline reasoned.

"Even with all that, there must be something in Maka's life that she's missing, don't you think so?" Liz questioned them.

Tsubaki was about to speak up when her phone abruptly started to ring next to her. Liz and Jacqueline watched as Tsubaki glanced at the caller ID before smiling and picking it up. As soon as they heard a loud 'hey Tsubaki, what took you so long to pick up?!' come from the phone, they both knew it was Black Star on the other end.

"It still surprises me that you two have been dating for so long." Liz said with a smirk, once Tsubaki had ended her call.

"What was he calling you about that sounded so urgent?" Jacqueline questioned with interest.

Tsubaki felt her cheeks redden at their teasing grins. "Nothing really, he just wanted to know if I was going to stop by his apartment later."

Liz snickered even more at Tsubaki's embarrassment before she snapped her fingers as a thought came to her. "Wait a minute, that's it!"

"What's it?" Patty inquired.

"I know what I can get Maka as a Secret Santa gift! She doesn't have a boyfriend!" Liz declared excitedly.

Tsubaki arched an eyebrow while Jackie furrowed her brows at that idea. "Liz, don't you remember what happened the last time you tried to set Maka up on one of your blind dates or matchmaking schemes?"

Liz only waved Jacqueline off with a grin. "Okay, so I screwed up with trying to set her up with Hiro and other dates in the past, but this time it'll be different; I know it!"

"How exactly would you plan on doing things differently this time though; are you going to pay some guy to go out with her? Maka wouldn't appreciate that and she is already very wary of men in general." Tsubaki asked in confusion.

Liz shook her head at Tsubaki's question and smirked as she pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket. "I'm sure a month is plenty of time for me to find a guy who Maka could enjoy going on at least more than one date with and think of how shocked she'll be! Now, who do we know that is single and around our age?"

Patty and Jacqueline gained blank looks after thinking over options for a few minutes until Tsubaki eventually let out a small groan to get their attention. "I know someone, but I doubt Maka would like him."

Liz leaned up from her chair towards her curiously. "Any ideas are better than none at all."

Tsubaki couldn't help but smile a little as she nodded her head. "Um, I think Black Star's roommate Soul is single. I've never seen him with any girls in the few times I've been at their apartment, but I could be wrong since he mostly keeps to himself."

"Hmm, I think it's worth a shot anyways! Tsubaki, lead the way to their place!" Liz asserted, as she stood up from her seat proudly.

~**X**~

"Damn it Black Star, stop trying to use different cheat codes to win! You should have at least memorized some moves by now." Soul snapped out, as the two of them played a new wrestling game they had just bought.

Black Star growled as Soul finished his player with a knockout before he tossed his controller to the ground. "Whatever, I kick your ass at every other game we own anyways!"

Soul only scoffed and got up to get a drink from the fridge when a sudden loud banging at their door made him pause.

"Were you expecting people?" Soul questioned, as he scratched a hand through his snowy white hair tiredly.

Black Star nodded his head as he leapt up from the sofa. "Yeah, I called Tsubaki earlier and she sent me a text about a few minutes ago to say that she was coming by, but that didn't sound like her usual knock."

Soul watched Black Star glance through the peephole of their door before frowning when he saw he had gained a perplexed look.

"Who's at the door; is it one of our neighbors come to complain about our noise level again?" Soul assumed.

Black Star shook his head as he began to unlock the door. "It's Tsubaki, but she brought her friends along for some reason."

Soul arched an eyebrow as Black Star greeted Tsubaki with a grin and peck on the cheek. "Hey babe, I wasn't expecting you to get here so soon! Why are Liz, Patty, and Jackie with you though; did they want to see me that badly too?!"

Tsubaki laughed lightly while Liz snorted next to her. "That's the last reason any of us would stop by here."

Black Star sent her a glare before shrugging. "I know you hate the cold Liz, so there must be a good reason why you would make the trek here."

Liz nodded her head with a smirk as Black Star moved aside to let them all in. Soul sent Black Star a confused look as to why all of Tsubaki's main friends were suddenly here, but Black Star looked just as lost as he was as the girls made themselves comfortable around the kitchen table and living room.

"Sorry we all came here on such short notice." Tsubaki apologized, having already seen Soul's bewildered look before they had walked in.

"It's no problem Tsubaki; we're all friends after all!" Black Star said with a grin, as he went to turn back on the heater now that they had company.

"What was so important that you all had to come here though?" Soul grumbled out, straight to the point.

Liz squirmed slightly in her pink jacket at Soul's attitude. '_Geez, I haven't even said anything yet and he already wants to kick us out! Though I guess all of us just showing up unannounced at anyone's house would be annoying. I wonder if this really is a guy Maka could get along with though…'_

"Liz, hurry up and give him some type of answer before he gets even more pissed!" Jacqueline whispered to her, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Sis wants you to help her with her Secret Santa gift!" Patty said cheerfully, paying no mind to the shocked looks that came onto her friends and sister faces.

"Patty, I need to be the one to explain it to him, not you!" Liz cried out in alarm.

Patty only shrugged as she turned back around to face her sister with a grin. "But you're taking too long tell him."

Black Star snickered as he moved to slap Soul harshly on the back. "Looks they have something big in mind they want you to do!"

Soul scowled as he shoved Black Star away from him. "Who said I was going to be a part of it?"

Liz gained a panicked look as she quickly stood up from her seat. "Wait a minute; you haven't even heard what I had in mind! It's not anything crazy or stupid, I promise!"

Soul still held a bored expression as Liz tried to gather her thoughts together. "Okay, I know this may sound weird, but I was wondering if you could do this small favor for me."

"Of course Soul can help you, he doesn't have anything on his plate after finals really since wasn't planning to visit his folks. Isn't that right Soul?" Black Star said, sending a smug smile in Soul's direction.

Soul glowered and chose not to respond immediately. '_He's only acting like this because I beat him at a game a few times…'_

Liz brightened slightly at Black Star's explanation. "Really, would you be willing to hear me out then?" '_Oh my gosh, this could actually work; and on my first attempt to find somebody!' _

Soul pushed his hands into his grey sweatpants with a sigh as felt all eyes turn on him in expectation. "Doesn't seem like I have much of a choice now, do I?"

Liz ignored the sarcasm in Soul's answer as she briefly sent a smile to Tsubaki and Jackie who were nodding at her to continue. "Alright, all I want you to do is be my friend Maka's Secret Santa gift."

Black Star furrowed his brows at the name Maka. "Hold on, is this the same Maka that I think you're talking about; the one who keeps her hair in pigtails most of the time?"

Liz nodded her head gleefully before pouting as she saw Black Star burst into a fit of laughter. "What?! Why the hell would you try to set her up with Soul? They're like the complete opposite of each other!"

"Black Star you don't have to be so rude about it." Tsubaki murmured, nudging at his arm to stop.

Black Star chuckled for a few seconds more as he leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Yeah, okay that was a bit mean. Maka has no idea you have this planned for her, does she?"

Liz shook her head as she turned her attention back towards Soul who looked even more skeptical now. "Look, don't listen to your idiot friend here. It's true you and Maka aren't exactly alike in terms of personality, but that doesn't mean you still couldn't get along with her."

"What's in for me if I actually agree to take part in this?" Soul challenged.

Liz bit her lip at that inevitable question. '_And here I was hoping he would just go along with everything. I don't want to pay him to do this,_ _but how else can I persuade him?'_

Jacqueline noticed that Liz was struggling to find an answer to Soul's question and grinned as an idea came to her. "Hey guys, take out your phones for a moment." Jacqueline whispered towards Tsubaki and Patty.

Tsubaki and Patty gave her curious looks before nodding their heads and pulling out their devices. "What do you want us to do?" Tsubaki asked.

Jacqueline opened her photos tab and started to slide through some images. "We need to try to find some nice pictures of Maka that we can show Soul. He probably only has a vague idea of what she looks like since they've never met in person."

"How could they not have met in person at least once by now? We all went to the same high school and the colleges we go to now aren't even that far apart from each other." Patty questioned.

"Well, Black Star really only knows you guys through me and we didn't start dating until our junior year of high school and like I said earlier, Soul keeps to himself mostly. Even if he did see Maka, he probably doesn't remember what she looks like." Tsubaki reasoned.

Patty seemed to accept that answer and giggled as she found a photo. "Do you think Soul will like this one?"

Jackie and Tsubaki looked up from their phones and laughed gently too. It was a photo of Maka sleeping peacefully under the shade in a hammock after a trip they had taken to the beach late last spring. It was probably one of the few actual pictures any of them had of Maka with her hair down and not doing something school related.

"That would be a nice photo if it weren't for the fact Maka is asleep in it and still in her bikini." Jackie mused.

"Those things aren't a big deal, I'm going to go show it to him anyways and see what he thinks!" Patty cheered out, not waiting to hear Tsubaki or Jackie's response.

"Hey sis, show him this photo of Maka, then he'll at least know what she looks like!" Patty called out, as she got both Liz and Soul's attention.

Liz accepted Patty's phone and looked taken aback at their picture choice. "I don't think that photo is the one we should go with..."

Black Star peeked over the two of them to get a look at the photo and grinned in amusement. "No, I agree with Patty. That is a good one to go with!"

Liz was about to make a retort, but Patty had already turned her phone in Soul's direction so he could get a clear look at the image too.

Soul stared at the picture for a few seconds before blushing slightly and looking away. "I'm sure there were plenty of options you could've picked from besides that one…"

"None of which would have gotten that response though." Black Star muttered lowly enough, but Soul still heard him and sent him a scowl.

Soul groaned as he realized Liz and all of her friends had been at there apartment for over an hour now. '_They're really not going to give up on this, are they? I guess spending one day with this girl can't be that bad if it will get them to stop pestering me.'_

"Okay, fine. I'll be this Maka girl's 'Secret Santa' thing or whatever." Soul finally said.

Liz squealed happily as Jacqueline, Patty, and Tsubaki grinned as well. "Yes! I promise you won't regret this! I'm pretty sure you already know him, but at the end of the month my boyfriend Kid will hold his annual New Year's Eve party. You'll meet her then when we exchange gifts so mark it on your calendar or set a reminder on your phone to dress nice."

Soul just nodded his head blankly; only half paying attention to all the details Liz was giving him. Soul sighed as Liz eventually sat back down at the kitchen table with the rest of the girls to high-five them happily and go over more details of the party amongst themselves.

'_What the hell have I just gotten myself into?'_ Soul pondered, glimpsing out the main living room's window at the light snow dancing in the wind.

Black Star patted Soul comfortingly on the back before plopping down back on the sofa. "Hey man, you and Maka are both sad and lonely people during the holidays. At least now you can both keep each other company!"

Soul picked up the remote from the counter and tossed it directly at Black Star's head. "Shut up already."

~**X**~

Maka carefully tucked a curl out of her face before smiling at herself in the mirror and admiring her simple black evening dress and emerald scarf. '_Still though, I'm not sure why Tsubaki kept pressuring me to dress all fancy tonight. Kid never really had any issues with people dressing in casual wear for past parties…'_ Maka considered.

Outside in the living room, Tsubaki was sending another text back to Liz that Maka had agreed to dress a bit nicer than normal to attend the party.

_**Good, I've already have Black Star and Soul here at the mansion. Soul is currently just exploring the mansion, but the last time I saw him he was wearing a black pinstriped suit (So they'll be matching I guess!). Let's try to all meet up with each other in the main foyer at 8 pm for the gift exchange! –Liz**_

"Tsubaki, who are you talking to?" Maka asked, tapping her shoulder.

Tsubaki jumped back startled as Maka sent her a concerned look. "Oh, it was just Black Star asking if I had reach Kid's manor yet is all."

Maka narrowed her eyes at Tsubaki's quick answer before shrugging as she picked up her present for Patty wrapped in red and white paper sitting by the door. "Do you have your present? I don't want you to forget and leave the house without it."

Tsubaki nodded her head as she picked up her own present wrapped in blue and green paper. "It's already 7:30 now; we should get going. You know how Kid is about being on time."

Maka silently agreed as the two stepped out the doors. Maka shivered and clutched her scarf and coat closer to herself as the wind blew a few snowflakes into her face. "I don't see why I couldn't have worn my casual winter clothes since it's still snowing even now. Does Liz plan for us to go to some fancy restaurant afterwards?"

"Something like that." Tsubaki murmured, trying to hold back her smile as Maka kept one hand in her pocket and the other on her present.

After walking for about 15 minutes, Tsubaki and Maka arrived and greeted Kid at the entrance of his house.

"Hello, glad you could make it, and on time too!" Kid stated happily with a smile.

Tsubaki watched as Maka went ahead of her inside to greet Jacqueline and Kim before she turned back to Kid. "Um, you haven't seen Black Star and Soul around recently, have you?"

Kid thought it over for a moment before shaking his head. "I saw the both of them earlier, but I think Black Star is still somewhere inside by the food tables and I'm not sure where Soul went actually. I'm surprised he even came since he's not a party type of person."

Tsubaki nodded her head worriedly as she looked amongst the passing guests going in. '_This isn't good if Soul still isn't here, there's only about 10 minutes to go before we gift exchange!'_

Tsubaki sighed and was about to turn to head inside herself when Liz unexpectedly rushed up to her out of breathe.

"Tsubaki…have you…have you…seen Soul?" Liz panted out.

Tsubaki shook her head as both her and Kid helped her to calm down. "I was just about to text you and ask Black Star if he knew where he was. What happened?"

"Well, everything was going fine because I made sure Black Star and Soul got here early before any of the other guests arrived, but Soul decided to take a look around the mansion and hasn't come back yet. Black Star tried calling him on his phone and texting him, but he wouldn't pick up!" Liz explained tearfully.

Kid and Tsubaki patted her back soothingly before Maka returned over to them and frowned when she saw the tear streaks on Liz's face. "I was wondering why you guys hadn't come in yet, what's going on? Why is Liz crying?!"

"I can't find where my gift for you is!" Liz sputtered out, not even caring she had revealed herself as her Secret Santa.

Maka blinked in confusion before smiling warmly. "Oh, that's nothing to cry about Liz. I didn't want or need anything in particular anyways."

Liz shook her head in frustration as she stood up and gazed inside towards the entrance. "No! I worked hard to get you this present and I'm going to find him no matter what and not ruin this night for you!"

Maka watched as Liz proudly stood up and marched back inside before turning towards Tsubaki specifically. "What did she mean by _**him**_?"

Tsubaki shrugged her shoulders with an innocent smile. "I'm not the one to be asking."

Maka pouted at Tsubaki's secretive answer as they all headed indoors. Even though Liz had run off in order to find her 'present', Maka insisted that everyone else still gift exchange in order to not delay it any further.

"Ooh, a giraffe themed phone case with a matching necklace and plushy! Thanks Maka!" Patty said, as she gave her hug.

"You're welcome; I noticed your old phone case cracked, so I figured I could get you another one. The necklace and plushy didn't cost much more to add in either." Maka explained.

"Liz still hasn't found your present yet Maka?" Kim asked.

Maka shook her head with a sigh. "I told her it wasn't a big deal, but I'll try to look for her anyways so she can just enjoy the rest of the party."

Maka left her group of friends and trudged down a few hallways in search of Liz. After visiting Kid's mansion plenty of times throughout high school, Maka knew her way around pretty much every corner of the house. '_Dang it, where is she? She wasn't in the guest rooms, the kitchen, the balcony, the study room, or any of these random hallways…' _ Maka thought, as she paused in her search to admire the small amount of moonlight managing to creep in through the blinds.

'_Maybe I should go back to the party; Liz is probably with all of our friends again anyways._' Maka reasoned. As Maka retraced her steps down the hall, a faint noise coming from one of the rooms caught her attention. Maka paused in her walk to make sure she wasn't hearing things, but continued to hear a faint sound coming from down the hall that only increased the closer she got to it.

'_How is it that I didn't first hear this noise when I first came upstairs? It sounds like someone is playing something.' _Maka pondered, as she peeked inside Kid's secondary ballroom and found to her surprise a guy at Kid's old grand piano.

~**X**~

"Wow, he's so focused on his playing he didn't even hear me come in." Maka whispered under her breathe, as she finished listening to mysterious man's song before he abruptly stopped when he finally glanced up from the piano and noticed her presence.

"How long have you been standing there?" Soul asked coldly.

Maka arched an eyebrow at Soul's tone before shrugging. "Just long enough to hear you play that alluring melody. Who are you anyways; I've never seen you here before."

Soul looked taken aback for a second at the compliment to his playing as he closed back the piano case. "I'm not some creepy stranger if that's what you're thinking. I'm a friend of Kid and Black Star; I just wanted to take my mind off of being at this party so I came up here."

Maka still looked distrusting, but then saw a name tag on him that nearly made her gasp. '_Am I seeing things or does that nametag on him say Maka's present?! Don't tell me Liz really did plan on giving me a guy as a present, honestly…'_

"Anyways, why are you up here? Shouldn't you be enjoying the party downstairs with everyone else?" Soul questioned, snapping Maka out of her thoughts.

"Err; well I was until my friend ran off trying to find my present so I went searching for her." Maka mumbled.

Soul thought over Maka's answer before smirking. "Oh, I see. You must be Liz's friend Maka then, right?"

Maka nodded her head and scowled at Soul's smirk. "Listen, I don't know what Liz might have told you or even paid you, but she already knows I hate it when she tries to set me up with people."

"Liz didn't pay me anything, though she could have told me that you were flat chested. The picture I saw of you didn't make you appear that way." Soul mused just as Maka slammed a book onto his head with a loud Maka-chop.

Maka growled as she put her book away. "Humph, maybe I should tell Liz that the 'present' she got for me is defective!"

Soul was still grumbling out curses from his sore head before he faced her properly once more. "Look, I normally don't like to go to parties like this, but I made an exception this time."

"Oh, and why is that?" Maka asked in boredom. '_He's probably disappointed now that he's actually met me in person.'_

Soul grinned toothily as he walked out of the ballroom with Maka following after him. "To meet you of course, you're friends kept gushing about all these great things about you and it made me curious enough to be your present for your Secret Santa thing."

Maka rolled her eyes at Soul's explanation, but he didn't appear to be lying as she studied his facial expression carefully. '_Liz definitely picked an unusual guy for me this time. I've never seen anyone around our age that had white hair and dark red eyes.'_

"You know, you don't have to spend any time with me. Liz basically dragged you into all this. Maka stated.

"It's a risk worth taking, and now that you seem to be accepting me as your 'gift' I'll introduce myself properly: I'm Soul."

Maka nodded her head at Soul's introduction, but sighed. "And I'm Maka, but you already knew that. I still don't want to force you into this."

Soul shook his head as he gently grabbed Maka's hand, grinning when the action caused her cheeks to redden. "Trust me, I wouldn't walk here in the snow and nearly trip over myself on the sidewalk like an idiot if I wasn't at least a little interested." '_And just from these past few minutes of talking to her I know she doesn't seem to mind my looks or attitude for the most part.'_

Maka gazed down at their clasped hands cautiously before meeting Soul's face once again. '_Well, I did say I wanted to break out of my comfort zone as one of my New Year's resolutions…'_

Maka eventually laughed lightly and couldn't help but squeeze his hand in return. "Okay, I'll give you a chance, but you better be ready for my Maka-chops in the future if you keep throwing anymore snarky remarks at me!"

~_**Snow Ends**_~

_**A/N: **__The first of many one-shots to come, feel free to leave any suggestions and thanks for reading as always! _


	2. Landslides

_**A/N:**_ This particular one shot takes place about a year or so after the Manga's end.

**02 Landslides **

"Kid, I still don't understand why you think this would be a good case for me." Maka complained, as she set the case file back down on his desk.

Kid looked up from his stacks of other paperwork with a sigh. "I know checking out the cause of the landslides in Oak Village isn't exactly a complicated job, but you did say you would take whatever new case that came up and everyone else is already out on other jobs."

"Are you sure this couldn't have been assigned to anyone else though? When you said you had a new case for me, I was thinking more along the lines of the complex ones I had been doing recently." Maka assumed.

Kid shook his head as he signed his name at the bottom of another paper. "Most of the more difficult assignments you finish in a week rather easily Maka, so this case should take you even less time. Besides that, there isn't much else I could give you. It's been rather peaceful due to the fact that we're no longer fighting with any witches."

Maka sighed and slowly nodded her head in resolution. It was a rather simple solo mission to check and see if the landslides nearby the village were being potentially caused by a Kishin, but it lacked the usual excitement that Maka enjoyed.

'_I haven't taken on any truly exciting missions since Soul became a Death Scythe know that I really think about it…'_Maka mused, before she pushed the thought away with a frown.

"Alright, I guess I can handle something as easy as this, though Oak Village is a good distance away from Death City." Maka stated, as she read over the details of the case again.

Kid nodded his head in agreement as he stepped away from his chair to stretch his legs out. "Don't worry about the travel and hotel expenses since I already took care of that. The only thing you'll have to be concerned about is getting food and collecting as much information you can from the locals and the actual site of the occurrences."

"Ah, guess I'll be gone for a week from the way this is sounding." Maka concluded, as she placed the file into her tote bag with a smile.

Kid only chuckled and shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Consider it more like a vacation than a mission. I wish I could get some break time from doing all this deskwork. Father never did inform of all the duties that came with being a Shinigami."

"At least you're doing a good job at it though! I guess it must get a bit boring for you too though since you can't take on outside missions like you could in the past." Maka reasoned.

Kid shook his head as he returned back to his desk. "It comes with the profession; even Soul has had to adjust to waking up earlier to do his Death Scythe training or take on a mission."

Maka stiffened slightly at the mention of Soul has she pushed her hands back into her black overcoat quietly. "Well… I suppose I shouldn't keep you from your work any longer."

Kid watched as Maka calmly left his office and shut the door behind her. '_Hmm, maybe bringing Soul up wasn't the best thing I could have done.'_

~**X**~

"Maka, what's with all the packing; are you going on another mission already?" Blair questioned, as she watched Maka fold some clothes into a suitcase the following morning.

Maka nodded her head with a smile as she zipped everything up. "I won't be gone for long though. I should be back by early next week. I need to hurry though, the train Kid arranged for me leaves in about an hour."

Blair pouted as she gazed over Maka's luggage. "But who will keep me company while you're gone? Or feed me?!"

"Blair, I've gone away for longer than a week; I know you'll be able to take care of yourself. In terms of food, I assume you'll more than likely use that same fish guy who gives you handouts." Maka replied back easily, already moving her suitcase out into the living room.

Blair quickly scampered after her and sighed at Maka's decision. "Aren't you just taking these cases as a way to get your mind off Soul?"

Maka paused in her adjustment of her backpack before she sent Blair a scowl. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Blair's golden eyes narrowed a little as she poofed back into her human form with a smirk. "Nothing really, it seems like to me though that your only using these missions as a way to distract yourself from your feelings for him."

Maka blushed lightly at Blair's suggestion as she tightened her grip on her suitcase. "I'm not sure where you got those ideas from Blair, but that isn't true."

"Oh, so that means it would be okay if I started to flirt with Soul whenever he comes back home?" Blair teased.

'_You already did that when he was home anyways.' _Maka thought with a growl, avoiding the taunting looks Blair was still sending her.

"Well, I'll see you in a week Blair. Please try not to cause any messes while I'm gone." Maka said, as she left out the door before Blair could finish pestering her.

'_Stupid Blair and her assumptions, if only people could stop jumping to conclusions about Soul and I...' _Maka reflected, ignoring the ache growing in her chest. The only times she had made contact with Soul over the past year had been the brief phone calls she could sometimes get in with him and the one time meeting with all the Death Scythes had been held in the city a few months ago.

Maka briefly pulled herself away from her thoughts as the train started to move rapidly out of the city and into the mountainous region. "It's not very often I get to see views like this in my travels." Maka mumbled softly, enjoying the change towards a lush rural landscape as they sped by a few pastures.

The train ride went on for about 3 more hours until they finally reached the village by early afternoon. Maka stretched her arms out comfortably as she stepped off the train and glanced around the area curiously.

'_Let see, it's only a little past 1 pm right now. Since I already ate lunch on the train, I rather as well check out the site where the landslides have been occurring to get an idea of what I'll be dealing with.' _Maka decided, as she asked a nearby resident what direction she should walk in.

Maka walked carefully along the path and frowned as she noticed more and more cracks starting to appear in the road the further along she went. Parts of the road were even still covered with mud and debris from the nearby forest. Eventually, Maka neared a deep fissure in the road blocked with yellow caution tape that prevented her from continuing.

Maka glanced around the ravine carefully, but paused when a man only wearing a hard hat for protection walked right past her over the caution tape to get a closer view.

'_What the? Doesn't this guy know it's dangerous to be in this area, let alone only come out here with a hard hat for safety?' _Maka thought with a frown.

"Excuse me sir, but only officials are allowed to get that close to the crevice." Maka stated, grabbing onto the man's arm before he could potentially hurt himself.

"You don't think we've dealt with worse?" Soul asked, causing her to briefly step away from him in shock.

Maka gazed at Soul in surprise at the fact she hadn't even recognized him at first before she quickly shook it off. "Soul, what the hell are you even doing here?! Shouldn't you be away on business in Melbourne this week?

Soul shook his head with a crooked grin as he took off his helmet. "Actually, I'm here to investigate the cause of these landslides suddenly happening by this village."

Maka arched an eyebrow at Soul's statement. "But…but that's my mission to do!"

Soul's grin only widened at that. "Not anymore, we can take it on together now to save time."

~**X**~

'_Something just isn't right here. Kid would have informed me of Soul of all people being a part of this assignment, but I know he told me this was going to be a solo case. So why is Soul here?!' _Maka thought angrily, as the two of them trudged away from the site after briefly scoping out the area.

'_Why bother questioning why Soul is here anyways? You may not admit it out loud, but you've been wanting to see him again for so long. The point is that know he's here beside you and all you want do is complain about it?!' _Another part of Maka's mind argued.

"Geez Maka, what's with the pissed off look? Is it that bad that I'm a part of this case too?" Soul asked amusingly.

Maka sent him a dirty look before eventually sighing. "No, it's unexpected that you're here is all. Kid never told me that you would be coming."

Soul shrugged as the two of them reached the main area of the village once more. "Kid's been busy with so many different things that it probably slipped his mind."

Maka only nodded her head as she glanced up at a few passing clouds. "I should get heading back to my room now to rest; I haven't even set my stuff down since I wanted to first take a look at the site."

Soul reached out and grabbed her hand just as she turned to leave. "Hold on, you're not going to be busy tonight are you? We should meet up later on for dinner."

Maka blinked in bewilderment as she felt her cheeks fluster. '_Why is Soul asking me out all of sudden?'_

"It would be a good chance for us to go over all the details involving these landslides, right?" Soul continued on.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's actually a good idea." '_And of course here I was thinking he meant something else.'_

Soul snickered at Maka's still reddened cheeks as he reached a hand out to poke them. "What's the matter Maka; did you think I was asking you out?"

Maka growled under her breathe at Soul's smug look and reached to smack Soul's hand away until he suddenly leaned in closer.

"We could make it a date if you really wanted to Maka. After all, _**we**_ do have the whole week to ourselves…" Soul whispered into her ear with a grin.

Maka huffed and swiftly pushed Soul away from her. "Stop joking around Soul. _**I**_ only came here on business."

Soul furrowed his brows at Maka's bitter tone. "I'm not joking."

Maka opened her mouth to reply, but felt her stomach knot at his words. She was expecting him to say one of his usual sarcastic remarks or even roll his eyes at her putting work first yet again, anything _**but**_ telling her he was serious.

"There's no reason for you to spend your whole time here focusing on only the case. We should make time to catch up with each other too. Soul mused, as he brushed something into her hand before he walked off in the opposite direction.

Maka glanced down at the card Soul had gave her and realized it was a card with the address for the restaurant he wanted them to meet up at.

'_I've only been here a few hours and already my mind is drifting away from the reason I came here in the first place. No matter what happens, I can't let my feelings become a distraction…'_

~**X**~

"So, the main reason that the residents have been worried is that a few people have gone missing from the most recent landslide that happened last week. While it is sad that these landslides have been causing so much destruction, I think it's more due to heavy rain they've been having rather than potentially a Kishin-and are you even listening to me?!" Maka snapped out when saw Soul let out a yawn across from her.

"Yeah I am, calm down. All we need to do basically is check inside the ravine and in the forest area for anything odd." Soul grumbled.

Maka gently slammed her fists against the table at Soul's bored answer. "There's more to it than that! It may not be a Kishin, but it could be a group of vandals or something."

"Because petty vandals' are usually capable of causing this level of damage?" Soul questioned, grinning at Maka's annoyed look.

"Oh, shut up. You know what I mean." Maka muttered.

It was quiet for a few minutes as Maka swirled her straw in her glass of water. '_For someone who supposedly should have gotten all the details of this case before me, Soul seems to act as if he literally knew nothing about this case until I told him. Unless…what if Soul really didn't know anything about the case? That means Kid may not even know he's here with me.'_

Maka was about to voice her thoughts to Soul, but was interrupted by one of waitresses returning with their food.

"Here you two go, enjoy!" She chirped out, giving a quick wink towards Soul before she left their table. Maka narrowed her eyes at the woman's blatant flirtation, but realized Soul's focus had remained on her.

"Alright Soul, don't pretend you didn't notice that women coming onto you." Maka stated, as she set aside her water.

"Was she? I was too distracted by something else." Soul stated cheekily.

Maka blushed as she realized what he meant. "You know, all of these corny lines you've been giving me aren't very cool."

"I beg to differ since I've yet to see you not blush from any of these so called 'corny' lines." Soul replied back.

Instead of meeting Soul's smile, Maka found herself frowning. '_I don't understand how Soul can't just be joking with me considering the insults he used to throw at me. There has to be something he's keeping from me.'_

Soul sighed at Maka's quiet demeanor as he finished taking a bite from his lasagna. "Alright, let's get back to business then. What time do you want to meet at the site tomorrow?"

"Considering that you like to sleep late, we can push it towards the late morning or early afternoon around 11 am or 12 pm." Maka suggested.

Soul nodded his head in agreement and turned his attention back towards his food. "What happens if a Kishin is the cause of all these landslides?"

Maka shrugged her shoulders at the simple question. "Then we'll fight it of course, obviously."

"Like how we did in the past, huh?" Soul mused with a smirk.

This time, Maka couldn't help but meet Soul's grin back. "Yeah, just like old times."

~**X**~

The dense bushes, mud, and thick underbrush of the forest Soul and Maka waded throughout the mid-morning heat almost made Maka consider pushing back the case to tomorrow. Almost.

"Still think that some delinquents could be the cause of this?" Soul asked, as he paused to lean his head against one of the few trees that still remained upright.

Maka scowled and turned to fix Soul with a glare. "At least I'm trying to actively look for something, unlike you!"

Soul stared at her blankly as he briefly glanced at the forest floor before gazing up towards the trees. "It's not like you've found anything important either besides some animal footprints. Don't worry though, I'm sure Kid will enjoy reading your report on all the dirt and leaves you went through that lead you to nothing special."

Maka balled her fists up in anger and instantly felt the urge to use her fists to put an end Soul's offhand remarks when a sudden cracking sound made them both pause in their movements.

"Did you hear that?" Maka whispered out.

Soul nodded his head as his crimson eyes sharpened towards the direction of the cracking. "It could just be another animal maybe."

Maka shook her head as she focused her jade green eyes. '_It might be an animal or it could finally be the thing that gets this case in motion.'_

Maka took a few steps in the direction of the sound and noticed that some of the trees were beginning to shake the closer she got.

"Hmm, this noise may lead us to something. I'm going to go check it out before it disappears." Maka said, not even waiting to hear Soul's answer as she trekked deeper into hedges.

Soul frowned at Maka's swift choice to potentially walk into danger as he reluctantly followed after her and caught up to her fast pace.

"You could be getting excited over seeing another rabbit or squirrel again." Soul grumbled out.

Maka rolled her eyes as she moved to lightly punch his arm. "You know rabbits and squirrels don't make sounds like that! There was no reason for you to come with me if you were just going to complain the whole time."

Soul chose to not respond to that and instead decided to observe their surroundings carefully as Maka went ahead of him into a small opening she found along the chasm.

'_This isn't good, it seems like another downpour is going to happen any minute now.' _Soul pondered, as he noticed a few dark grey clouds beginning to form.

Only a few more minutes had passed before Soul suddenly heard a vulgar yelp come from the direction Maka had walked in.

'_Damn it, I shouldn't have let her go in there alone.' _Soul thought anxiously, as he pushed a few rocks out of the way and eventually found Maka sitting against one of the slabs.

Maka glanced up from her foot and gave Soul a startled look. "What are you doing here? I thought you were keeping lookout for anything suspicious outside."

Soul arched an eyebrow as he bent down to inspect Maka's foot. "I heard you scream so I came to investigate."

"Oh, a small boulder had brushed against my foot before I could get out of the way, it's no big deal." Maka said, trying to move her injured foot out of Soul's view.

"What the hell Maka, your foot bleeding is not just a 'no big deal'!" Soul snapped out, gently grabbing her foot back to see where exactly she had been hit.

Maka winced at the touch and scooted further back on the slab. "At least warn me if you're going to do that!"

Soul only shook his head as he finished looking over her foot before he stood up again. "Alright, let's get out of here."

"What, why?! This wound isn't as bad as it looks!" Maka sputtered out.

"That's not the point. If a small boulder just fell a few minutes ago, that means another landslide is potentially about to happen. It looks like it's about to rain as well, which would only cause us to be further in the way of danger." Soul explained.

Maka sighed and slowly nodded her head grudgingly. "You're right, though that makes today a complete waste of time."

Soul shrugged as he reached a hand out to help Maka up. "The day's only half over if you think about it."

About halfway in their walk back into the village, Soul's prediction of rain happened as a steady drizzle fell over them.

Soul scowled upwards at the sky as he abruptly stopped walking and pulled Maka closer to him.

Maka blushed uncomfortably at their sudden closeness. "Soul, what are you doing? I told you I can walk on my own just fine."

"At the pace you're going, you won't get back to your hotel room until tomorrow night. Just let me carry you so we can get back their faster." Soul argued back.

Maka scoffed at the insult, but warily did as he asked as he carried her the rest of the way piggyback-style.

Maka let out a sigh of relief once they finally approached her hotel room. '_That was so embarrassing! I didn't think so many people would be out on the streets.'_

Soul stretched his arms out as Maka got off him. "You've gotten heavier."

Maka stared at him blankly before smiling slightly. "You were the one that offered to carry me stupid."

Soul grinned back as he leaned against the opposite wall. "So?"

Maka cocked her head in confusion at Soul's questioning look. "So…what?"

"You're not going to let me stay in your room for a bit at least to rest? Or do you really want me to walk back to where I'm staying at in the rain?" Soul mused.

Maka blinked as felt her cheeks redden. The look Soul was giving her was similar to the same look he had giving her the day before when he told her he wasn't joking except now his smirk had softened into a tender smile he rarely showed.

'_If I let Soul come in, he and I both know he won't be leaving…' _Maka considered, as she bit her lip in hesitation to make a choice.

~**X**~

'_I hope this was a good decision._' Maka wondered, as she glanced over her shoulder at Soul follow her into her room.

Soul closed the door behind him and gave an approving stare over the room's ornate décor. "Hmm, why doesn't Kid pay for me to stay at nice places like this?"

Maka hobbled over towards the bed and took off her shoes to properly fix the makeshift bandage she had applied to her wound. "Speaking of Kid, does he even know you're here?"

"Does he have to know?" Soul asked sullenly, sitting down next to her.

Maka's eyes widened before she turned to give Soul a pout. "Of course he should know! He thinks you're halfway across the world right now when you're actually just a couple of miles away."

"I have my reasons for not telling him." Soul stated simply.

Maka gritted her teeth as she gripped her lavender bedspread into her hands. "Well, at least tell me why you're suddenly here. How long have you been here and how did you know I was even coming here?"

Soul frowned at Maka's sudden questions. "If you really must know I wanted to see you again. All I had to do was ask a few people around Death City if you had any missions coming up and then arrive here before you did to surprise you."

"You still could've told me you were coming before I left though." Maka said quietly.

Soul shrugged as he lifted Maka's chin to get her to face him properly. "The point of it was for it to be a surprise. Anyways, I'm happy to see you and I'm pretty sure you're happy to see me, right?"

Maka gradually nodded her head with a small smile as Soul grinned back before he moved to brush his lips against hers. Maka sighed nervously at the brief touch, but slowly wrapped her arms around him as Soul's warm breath fanned her lips for another kiss.

"We don't need to do this if you don't feel completely comfortable." Soul panted out, when they eventually broke away for air.

Maka shook her head as she tightened her grip slightly on Soul's plain blue shirt. "No, not yet…not when we're so close now that I can hear and feel that your heart is beating just as fast as mine."

Soul looked taken aback for a moment at Maka's words before he gently pushed her back onto the bed and fixed her with a serious look. "Then there's no more need for words then…"

A few hours later, Maka was dazedly awakened by the sound of Soul tossing off the covers of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Maka questioned, sitting up more in the bed to watch him curiously.

"Oh, sorry I woke you up. I wasn't leaving; I just wanted to take a shower to get the scent of rain and dirt off of me. You can join me too if you want." Soul added in smugly.

Maka blushed and shook her head as she quickly buried herself deeper into the covers. Over the next few days Soul had taken Maka's mind completely off the case. The only excuse he could really give her to not go back to the ravine was that she shouldn't be on her feet for too long even though they still went out to see different sites outside of the village by the fourth day when her leg had started to feel better.

'_But it's finally my last day here in the village and I still haven't written my report to give to Kid yet. It seems like I may have to exaggerate or make up some assumptions.'_ Maka thought tiredly, as she pulled out her phone to reread the text he had sent her.

_**Hello Maka, I hope your case went well. Usually you send me small updates of how your missions are going, but this time you didn't so I thought I would just check up on you. Incidentally, have you talked to Soul recently? I heard from Spirit that he neglected to show up to his training for a whole week. –Kid**_

'_Oh, you've done much more than just __**talk**_ _to Soul…'_ A part of her mind mused, before she pushed the dirty thought away as she tried to regain focus.

Maka continued to scribble some notes onto her notepad until Soul plopped back into bed and sent her a curious expression. "What are you doing now?"

"Nothing much, just trying to finish this report that I've been putting off." Maka replied back.

Soul only chuckled before he suddenly snatched her notepad away. "I figured you had forgotten about that; guess I was wrong."

"Give me back my notes!" Maka hissed out, repeatedly striking his head with a pillow until Soul finally relented.

Soul watched in boredom as Maka wrote down a few more things before she suddenly paused with a frown, this could be the some of the last moments she would spend with Soul for a while.

"Hey Soul, where are you going to go after this? You know I have to go back to Death City tomorrow and you'll probably get some punishment for skipping out on your work." Maka said wistfully.

Soul laughed and moved to lightly kiss her forehead. "Do you really have to ask? I'll come with you so we can spend a bit more time together and I can greet everyone else. After all, someone will have to explain to Kid why your report on the landslides will probably turn out crappy."

Maka narrowed her eyes as she made a mental note to bash Soul with one of her heavier books when he least expected it. "I don't find that funny."

Soul only grinned teasingly as he flicked her cheek lightly. "But I do."

~_**Landslides End~**_

_**A/N: **_I'm glad I was able to finish this since it's been a stressful school week. Any feedback is appreciated and as usual, thanks for reading!


	3. Drizzle

_**Author's Note: **_I should be able to update a bit more often since I'll be on winter break now (I'm thankful I got through all my finals), hope people enjoy this genie-themed one-shot.

**03 Drizzle AU**

"Thanks again for coming to help me get rid of some of this old clutter Maka. I would have asked Black Star if it weren't for the fact he has weekend detention again." Tsubaki said happily, as she and Maka moved some boxes together out of her closet and into the living room.

"Oh, it's no problem Tsubaki; you know I'm glad to help! It seems like that idiot is always getting himself into trouble for trying to cheat." Maka replied back.

Tsubaki laughed lightly and let out a sigh of relief as she closed back the door and looked over the piles. "So, where do you think we should start?"

Maka shrugged as she bent down to read one of the boxes' labels. "Hmm, this one says Memory Collections 2013 or do you want to begin with one further back than that?"

Tsubaki shook her head as she removed the tape from the box. "No, we can start with it. I don't even remember what Black Star and I might have even put in there."

Maka reached her hand in as she picked up a picture frame and blew some dust off of it. "Ah, this is from when you two went on that Spring Break trip to Cancun, right?

Tsubaki leaned over to look and nodded her head fondly at the picture of her and Black Star nearby an archaeological site. "Yup, that was right before we went to check out the Mayan ruins."

Maka grinned and continued to pick up and look at different objects before pausing when she came across an unusually designed lamp. "Hey Tsubaki, what's the story behind this item?"

Tsubaki peered up from the box and gained a look of confusion. "I'm not sure on that one to be honest. Black Star might have been convinced to buy that from some vendor."

Maka glanced back down at the small lamp's unique velvet red and black pattern. "It has an interesting look to it."

"You can have it if you want; you'll probably find better use for it than we did since it was sitting here in this box until now." Tsubaki considered.

Maka scoffed as she gave one last inspection over the lamp. "I already have a desk lamp that I use at night, but I guess I could maybe set it up somewhere nice on my shelf."

For the rest of the afternoon, Maka and Tsubaki continued to explore through different boxes until Maka eventually realized it was starting to get late and stood up.

"I should get heading back home Tsubaki; it would be nice if I could stay in an apartment with you, but I'm still stuck with my Papa until I turn 18 as well. Maka said with a groan.

Tsubaki nodded her head in understanding as she stood up also. "You only have a few months left to go Maka! Anyways, maybe we should meet up earlier in the day tomorrow so we can finish clearing out the rest of the junk in these boxes before this process starts to drag on for too long."

"That sounds good to me; text me to let me know when I should come over." Maka answered back with a smile, already heading out onto the sidewalk.

Maka sighed as she trudged down the street silently. It was still a relatively warm night for mid-November with only a few autumn leaves swirling in the wind.

'_It would be nice if these past few days weren't so cloudy. The moonlight could probably provide a better light source than these post lights.' _Maka mused, as she briefly glanced upwards at the somber night sky.

Maka scowled once she made it back to her home and noted that none of the lights were on. "Guess Papa went out to ChupaCabras again."

After getting a quick snack from the kitchen, Maka headed upstairs to her room and took out the lamp from her jacket pocket before she forgot.

"_Hmm, where should I even put this?"_ Maka thought to herself, as she studied the lamp carefully. It seemed like there was something written on the bottom of it now that she had wiped away more of the dust.

"SO-L E-T-R? What is that supposed to mean?" Maka asked aloud, as she brushed more of the grime off until she could finally read out the words SOUL EATER in clear red print.

"Soul Eater?" Maka whispered out in confusion, just as the lamp starting to shake and fill her room with thick black smoke.

Maka quickly let go of the lamp in shock as the lamp continued to fill her room with smog as a guy who appeared to be around her age appeared from the fumes.

"Are you the one who woke me from my lamp?" He asked tiredly.

Maka only blinked in shock as she glanced at the guy up and down. "What…what the hell is going on?!"

Soul frowned at Maka's reaction as he leaned an arm against her dresser. "I'm asking if you're the one who woke me from my lamp."

"I don't even know what you're talking about! How did you even get into my room anyways?" Maka snapped out, ignoring the frustrated look that came onto his face.

Soul rubbed a hand through white hair wearily. '_I can see I ended up with an irritating master already.' _He reasoned, before he decided to explain himself.

"I am the genie you awakened from the lamp a few seconds ago so now as normal, I'll grant you 3 wishes to-"Soul was suddenly cut off by Maka tossing a book directly at his face.

"I don't know what crap you're trying to pull, but I'm not going to let you break into my house!" Maka hissed out, as she continued to throw different objects at him.

"Damn it, stop throwing things at me and listen!" Soul grouched out, as he threw his arms up to protect himself.

Maka soon enough ran out of things to toss at him and watched in surprise as Soul snapped his fingers to return every book and item back to its original place.

"Believe me now, huh?" He asked with a smirk at Maka's stunned expression.

Maka glowered at him as he sat down on the floor across from her. "As I was saying, I'm the genie that you awakened from the lamp. You'll be my master until I finish granting you your 3 wishes."

Maka rolled her eyes at Soul's explanation. '_I don't know how that guy did that trick just now, but I'm not going to fall for it. This is probably all some silly prank he's trying to pull; I only need to think of something to get him to go away before Papa comes back home…'_

"Alright, I'll play along with your so called 'wishes'. My first wish is for you to go back into your lamp." Maka stated in boredom.

Soul arched an eyebrow at her first wish. Usually people wanted their first wishes to be about money, love, or even becoming famous. "Is that really what you want Master? That seems like a waste of a first wish to me."

Maka only shrugged her shoulders. "Yes, go back into your lamp and leave me alone for the rest of tonight."

"Well okay then, your wish is my command." He said simply, as he poofed back into his lamp without another word.

Maka stared cautiously at the lamp for a few minutes before she moved to set in the very back of her closet out of view and get ready for bed. _'I really hope I can forget everything that happened tonight.'_

Unfortunately, the following day, Maka awoke to scarlet red eyes watching her in amusement. "Good Morning master."

Maka blinked sleepily before her eyes started to widen in horror. "Why the hell are you still here?!" She cried out angrily.

"Telling me to go back into my lamp for the night was only your first wish of three. Now, name me your second wish." He stated smoothly.

~**X**~

Maka grumpily ate at her omelet while Soul let out a bored yawn from across the table. She supposed she was lucky that her Papa was still away at some random women's house for the weekend or else this situation would be much more awkward.

"Master, hurry up and make your second wish already; there has to be something you desire." Soul asked to break the silence.

"I told you already to stop calling me that! I don't feel comfortable being referred to as your master." Maka answered back, picking up her dirty plate and heading into the kitchen.

Soul internally groaned at how difficult she was being as he followed her to the sink. "What should I refer to as then?"

"My name is Maka and I assume your name is Soul since that's what was written on the lamp." Maka stated firmly.

"I don't see why you want to refer to me by name, but if that's what you want." Soul muttered out. '_None of my past masters had any problem calling me genie; in fact, most of them would have already made all their 3 wishes by now.'_

Maka only nodded her head before she went to move past him to head back upstairs. Soul arched an eyebrow at her blatant disregard of him. Did she really not care that she still had two wishes left?

"Listen, I'm only going to keep bugging you until you finish making _**all**_your wishes. I'm sure at some point in your life you've wanted something selfishly. Maybe an expensive item or a popular guy, hell perhaps a better body…" Soul trailed off.

Maka turned away from the stairs to fix Soul with a fierce glare. "Why would I bother making any more wishes if you're going to be an ass about it? Besides that, I actually want to work to achieve my goals; not have them just magically given to me!"

Soul watched as Maka stormed back up stairs and slammed her door closed behind her. Soul sighed and decided to retreat to the couch to watch TV.

'_Great, I probably made things even worse by saying that.' _ Soul pondered, beginning to carelessly flip through channels. A brief pause on the news let him know there was a higher chance of rain today with more clouds developing by the late afternoon hours.

Meanwhile upstairs, Maka quickly got changed into a green polo top and blue jeans to get ready to head over Tsubaki's place. "Stupid genie, why has he been looking at my body in first place anyways?! At least I should be able to get away from him for the next few hours."

Maka cautiously peeked downstairs and smirked when she saw that Soul had apparently fallen asleep in the midst of his channel surfing. '_Good, maybe when he wakes up and sees that I'm gone; he'll go back into his lamp for real.' _

Soul waited on reopening his eyes until he heard the front door quietly close. Soul stretched his arms out and lazily stepped off the couch to gaze in the direction had Maka left in.

"Hmm, she left her umbrella by the door; I'm pretty sure she can't stay too pissed at me if I go bring it to her." Soul speculated.

Maka slowly stopped her brisk run as she finally neared Tsubaki's apartment. Taking a quick glance around to make sure she wasn't being followed, Maka approached Tsubaki's door a bit more at ease.

After waiting a few minutes, Tsubaki opened her door and beamed at Maka's arrival. "Hey Maka, you came earlier than I thought you would! And you brought company to help apparently?"

Maka blinked in puzzlement at her statement before glancing behind her to see that Soul was standing there with an aloof grin.

"What are you doing here?" Maka seethed out, when the two of them had stepped far enough away for Tsubaki to hear.

"I came to bring you your umbrella; by the way, you should really look in all directions including above you if you were trying to avoid me." Soul said nonchalantly, putting her light gray umbrella into her hands.

Maka stared down at her umbrella for a moment before sighing. "I doubt it's going to rain, it's just been cloudy all week is all."

Soul shrugged before stepping back from her. "Better to have it than not have it all. Can't have my master potentially catching a cold now, could I?"

Maka blushed lightly at that before looking away with a huff. "Please go back home."

Soul was about to respond back, but a sudden yell made them both turn back in Tsubaki's direction. "Tsubaki, why are you keeping the door open so long- and hey Maka, who's that with you?"

Maka quietly uttered a curse under her breathe before giving Black Star a fake smile. "Oh, he's no one."

Black Star furrowed his brows as he stepped away from the door to get a closer look at Soul. "Doesn't look like no one to me. Heh, I never thought you would go and get yourself a boyfriend! Does your old man know about him?"

"He's not my-"Maka was cut off from her retort by Black Star greeting Soul with a friendly handshake. "Hey man, any friend of Maka's is a friend of mine! I guess Maka brought you along so we could get finally introduced to you, huh?"

Maka secretly shot Soul a glare to not tell Black Star who really was, but Soul only brushed it off. "Yup, I figured it was about time more people knew about our relationship."

'_Okay, what is he trying to pull now?'_ Maka thought furiously, as she saw Soul cast a quick smirk at her before heading inside with Black Star.

"I've never seen that guy around school or does he go to another one? And how long have you two been dating?" Tsubaki quietly asked her once they were all inside.

"I wouldn't even know how to explain it to you." Maka mumbled, already worried about how the rest of the day was going to go now.

~**X**~

"Why is it my friends can see you?" Maka whispered to Soul, once Black Star and Tsubaki had gone to the kitchen to get them drinks.

"Stupid, I'm not a ghost; of course other people can see me. Now if I were to show them my powers though…" Soul chuckled.

Maka's emerald eyes sharpened at Soul's tone. "If you try anything on them, I'll make sure to get my revenge for it."

"Oh, and what exactly could _**you**_ do to me?" Soul inquired, grinning when Maka didn't respond back immediately.

"What was your point in coming here anyways, besides to annoy me by lying to my friends?" Maka demanded.

"Since it seems like you want to save your last 2 wishes for who knows how long, I figured I should at least learn a little about your life to help push you to make a wish on something, even if that means I'll have to make things up." Soul explained.

Maka huffed at Soul's smug answer as Black Star and Tsubaki returned with some soda and glasses.

"So Maka, tell us about this guy; to think you had us all fooled into believing you would never date anyone and be single forever." Black Star mused, straight to the point.

Maka gritted her teeth at Black Star's snickering. "If you would've listened to me earlier you could've heard me say Soul wasn't my boyfriend."

"Maka, there's no need to deny it. I'm not going to go running off to tell your Dad if that's what you think, though it would be funny to see his face now that I think about it." Black Star said with a smirk.

Soul silently watched the two of them argue before sighing. "Maka is telling you the truth; we only met a few days ago, but we're slowly getting to know each other better." '_Well technically, we only met a few hours ago and we still know basically nothing about the other...'_

Black Star rubbed his chin thoughtfully at Soul's answer as he leaned his head back into the couch. "Damn, and here I thought I had a good rumor on my hands."

Maka grinned at Black Star's discontent look while Tsubaki cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Black Star, why don't you show Soul those new games you bought so Maka and I can complete clearing out the rest of this old stuff?" She suggested.

Black Star looked confused before his eyes brightened at the idea. "Good idea! Come on Soul, it's your lucky day; you get to watch a God kickass at video games!"

"Hooray?" Soul said, casually following after him to a room down the hall.

Maka watched them head off before turning to send Tsubaki a pout. "Why did you let them leave like that? They were supposed to help us!"

Tsubaki only smiled gently as she noticed the small smile that came onto Soul's face as Black Star fervently talked about how good he was. "It seems like they would get along well, don't you think?"

Maka snorted as she started to peel away at the tape of one box. "Oh, is that all? I guess they could be good friends."

Tsubaki nodded her head and grinned even further. "You and Soul would make a good couple too. He even came all this way just to give you an umbrella."

Maka felt her cheeks redden at Tsubaki's grin. '_I haven't really thought about it until now, but Soul couldn't have always been stuck in that lamp. He must have family and friends who are worried about where he is before he was cursed to live a life granting people's wishes…'_

"Tsubaki, don't start getting any ideas now. I really don't know much about him." Maka grumbled out.

"For now you don't, but complete strangers can quickly become the best of friends though." Tsubaki stated cheerfully.

Maka pushed away a stray hair from her face before gazing back at Tsubaki with a frown. "You just read that off the back of one of those pile of books, didn't you?"

Tsubaki moved to hide the book behind her back teasingly. "Maybe, but it's still true!"

~**X**~

"You're friends seem nice, maybe you should wish for something good to happen to them." Soul considered, as the two of them sauntered back home in the evening light.

Maka shook her head, twirling her umbrella absentmindedly. "They already have all they need."

Soul scowled at Maka's stubborn behavior and chose to say nothing back. The two continued walking in silence until Maka paused to brush a few raindrops from her hair.

"Glad I brought you the umbrella now?" Soul questioned from beside her.

"It's only coming down in a drizzle, it's not like we'll get soaked." Maka scoffed in reply, moving her pace to be ahead of him.

Maka eventually trudged up to her door and fiddled in her pocket for the key when a sudden voice on the other side made her delay going in.

"What's the matter, did you forget your key at Tsubaki's place?" Soul inquired, only to get quickly hushed as Maka pressed her ear towards the door.

'_That voice just now, it sounded definitely like a woman; don't tell me Papa brought another lady to the house again! After he promised me he would stop too…' _Maka thought furiously.

Maka sighed and stepped away from the door in disgust. Soul arched an eyebrow as Maka moved to walk in the opposite direction of her home towards a nearby field.

"This drizzle could become a downpour any second." Soul stated, hearing a slight rumble come from the now darkening grey skies.

"I don't care." Maka said tiredly, crouching to sit against one of trees. Soul studied her for a few seconds before moving to sit beside her.

"I knew there was something in your life you wanted to change. Why not wish for your Dad to stop being such a pervert and sleazebag?" Soul suggested.

Maka turned her gaze away from the ripples the raindrops were causing in a small puddle. "There's other ways to go about it than just wishing for it."

"Are any of those other ways working out for you?" Soul mused with a sardonic grin, as Maka narrowed her eyes.

Maka twiddled her thumbs carefully as she weighed the pros and cons of making the wish before she came to a decision. "Fine, for one day I wish my Papa would stop flirting with every woman in Death City."

"Only for one day?" Soul asked, to be sure.

Maka nodded her head as she stood back up determinedly. "I may not like his behavior, but changing him forever would be like getting a new Papa altogether."

Soul grinned toothily at that and he snapped his fingers. "Wish granted."

Maka glanced back in the direction of her house and smiled slightly. "That easily?"

"That easily." Soul replied back, observing Maka rush back to her home to see if it was true.

Sure enough, the woman Maka had heard earlier was now outside her home with a baffled look on her face.

"But Spirit, I thought you were in the mood to…" the woman cried out.

"Sorry, but I'm just not feeling it all of a sudden, perhaps another time." Spirit said dully, before closing the door in her face.

Maka gaped at the scene from behind the corner as the woman's shocked look quickly became pissed before she left with a huff.

'_I've never in all my years seen my Papa turn down a woman, this magic business is some powerful stuff.'_ Maka realized in amazement.

"I'll be in my lamp while you face your Dad." Soul said from behind her with a grin, before he poofed away.

Maka grimaced at Soul's words as she went inside and for once had her Papa give her a lecture on why she had been gone for so long and had never sent him a message to let him know where she was. Even though Spirit was criticizing her for her lack of punctuality, Maka couldn't help but smile at the fact he was showing his rare side of seriousness.

"Alright, I can see nothing I'm saying is getting through to you since you keep grinning. We'll have to discuss your punishment in the morning." Spirit said with a sigh.

'_Punishment? I didn't even do anything! Maybe I should have better thought this wish through…' _Maka contemplated, trudging up back up to her room with a frown.

A few minutes later, Soul reappeared from his lamp and smirked at Maka's annoyed look. "I see you had a nice chat with your dad."

"Shut it, are your wishes made to backfire? All I asked was for him to stop being a flirt and I got punished for it!" Maka snapped out.

Soul leaned a hand against his palm at Maka's predicament. "Since your Dad's mind isn't occupied with woman and being a Casanova, he's more focused on taking care of you and doing his job for the next 24 hours."

Maka pouted at that news and watched a few tiny raindrops hit against her window. "So, I've only got one more wish left then, huh?"

Soul nodded his head as he sat up a bit. "Already have something in mind?"

Maka shook her head, continuing to stare outside as her conversation with Tsubaki entered her head again. '_I've barely known Soul for a little over a day; I shouldn't try to pry into his life.'_

"I should go back into my lamp then." Soul stated, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hold on, there's something I wanted to ask you." Maka quickly spoke out.

Soul focused his attention back on her as Maka blushed a little under his stare. "Um… I was just wondering how long you've been cursed to live in that lamp."

Soul said nothing back for a second as he glanced over at the object of confinement. "Would you be surprised if I told you hundreds of years or something? We're actually around the same age give or take a year."

"I would know you were being sarcastic you were really that old. Though it could explain why your hair is white." Maka said with a chuckle.

Soul sent her a glare for that joke before shifting uncomfortably. "Why do you want to know about my life all of a sudden; is it really that important?"

'_This is not how I was expecting this conversation to go…'_ Maka pondered, shaking her head to answer Soul's question.

"Well, if you actually haven't been stuck in that lamp for a long time, your family must be worried about you-"Maka was cut off by a snort from Soul.

"My family probably thinks I'm dead or don't give a damn where I am." Soul stated flatly.

Maka opened her mouth to retort, but Soul looked away from her. "All I'll tell you is that I'm cursed to live this life because of my own stupid mistake of pissing an old lady off, happy now?"

Maka observed Soul go back into his lamp without another word and sighed wistfully when shaking it wouldn't make him come out and face her again.

"No Soul, I'm not happy; now I'm just more curious to know more about you…" Maka whispered out.

~**X**~

For the rest of the night and into tomorrow, Maka found it hard to focus on her studies with Soul's words weighing in the back of her mind.

The drizzle that had started yesterday evening had continued into today, causing a hazy overcast to appear over a majority of the city.

"Heh, what's with that sad face Maka? I bet you got into some type of lover's spat with Soul." Black Star snickered, as Professor Stein gave them a 5 minute break to talk.

Tsubaki elbowed Black Star to go bother someone else before sending Maka a concerned look. "Did something really happen?"

Maka nodded her head slowly as she set aside her textbook. "I asked Soul about his personal life and he basically shut me out."

"What exactly did you ask him?" Tsubaki questioned curiously.

"I asked if his family or friends were worried about him since he doesn't talk to them much." Maka said, partially lying. It wouldn't make sense to really tell her that Soul couldn't even see his family if he was bound to live in a lamp.

Tsubaki nodded her head attentively as she weighed the question. "It seems like you might have asked him about a sensitive issue too early."

Maka silently agreed as she tapped her pencil against the desk. "I've been trying to fix that, but he won't come out of his lamp- err I mean home or respond to my calls."

Tsubaki twirled her thumbs as she continued to think over options. "You're not the type of person to give up easily Maka. I'm sure you'll think of something to smooth things over with him before the day ends."

Maka smiled slightly at that and returned her attention back to their lesson as the rest of the school day went on.

'_There must be something I haven't thought of yet. Perhaps the only way I can get him to come out is if I tell him I'm ready to make my final wish, but what could I wish for?' _Maka thought deeply, clutching her umbrella a bit tighter in frustration, as she headed back home.

The small tapping of raindrops against her umbrella soon stopped, causing Maka to look up to see if the drizzling had really ended. It was still mostly cloudy, but a few of the clouds had parted to finally allow for small peaks of sunlight to come through.

Maka slowed her walk to admire the rainbow beginning to form from the mix of light rain and sun as an idea clicked in her head. '_Wait a minute; I know what I can wish for! I'm surprised I didn't think of this earlier.'_

Maka rushed back home and was greeted by her Dad who was casually typing some notes on his laptop. "You're home early; you didn't have any student council meetings to go to after school?"

Maka shook her head, almost forgetting that Spirit was still under the effects of her wish for a few more hours. "What's that you're working on?"

"Oh, this? Just some paperwork Principal Death had me doing that I wanted to finish up early." Spirit announced proudly.

"Sounds good, I should get started on my homework too." Maka stated, knowing that this would mean he would leave her alone for next few hours.

Spirit nodded his head, returning back to his computer as Maka hurried up stairs and tossed her damp umbrella into the corner.

Maka glanced around her room for Soul's lamp and noticed it was now by her bedside. At some point that must have meant Soul had come out of his lamp to either snoop around her room or observe what her Dad was doing.

"Alright Soul, you'll have to come out now to listen to me. I have a wish in my mind." Maka declared seriously.

Soul made no action to move, causing Maka to grab his lamp and start to vigorously shake it until Soul ultimately came out and fixed her with a dirty look.

"Damn, was that honestly necessary?" Soul muttered, rubbing his now throbbing head.

"This is important; I'm ready to make my final wish." Maka said, trying to block out the anxiety she was beginning to feel. '_I hope this works.' _

Soul lightly massaged his forehead as he turned to face her. "Oh, you are? This ought to be good…"

Maka nodded her head with a grin at Soul's skeptical look. "It is, because my final wish is for you to be free from your cursed life as a genie."

Soul paused in his mid-snap of his fingers to send Maka a bewildered stare. "What?"

"You heard me, I wish for you to be free. I can wish for that, can't I?" Maka challenged confidently.

"You can, but…why do you want to use your last wish on me?" Soul inquired.

Maka only smiled gently at Soul's confused expression. "To get to know you better stupid; I'm sure you want to continue being friends with Black Star and enjoy a normal human life again."

Soul nodded his head, still surprised at what Maka was asking for. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes." Maka answered without hesitation, glad when Soul snapped his fingers to grant it.

Maka glanced over Soul carefully and frowned when he appeared to be the same. "Did my wish really work? No flashes or effects went off to signal any change."

Soul rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the arm to pull her into a hug. "I'm not going to change into a different person moron."

Maka resisted the urge to hit Soul for that comment and instead burrowed her face comfortably into his chest when she heard him mumble a quick thank you into her ears. When Maka eventually moved back a bit, she realized that Soul's lamp had broken into pieces.

"You're really not bound to that lamp anymore! You can live your life any way you want to now!" Maka said excitedly.

Soul grinned wickedly at Maka's cheer and moved his face closer to hers. "Anyway I want?"

Maka flushed at their closeness when an abrupt knocking on her door and turning of her doorknob made them separate.

"Maka, I heard what sounded like you talking to somebody so I decided I should check on you before I left for- Spirit paused mid-sentence when he saw Soul.

Spirit gazed between the two of them for a moment in stunned silence before he let out a screech of horror. "Maka, what type of homework involves sneaking a guy into your room?!"

Maka sighed at her Papa's over the top reaction. "I guess he's back to normal."

Soul only shrugged as wrapped an arm around her, further freaking out Spirit. "You should have at least wished I could have kept my powers; then I could make him go away."

"Now's not the time to say that!" Maka muttered back, trying to hold back a smile for the next lecture she was sure to face.

~_**Drizzle Ends**_~

**A/N: Feel free to leave any suggestions on possible weather one-shots you want to see and thanks for reading as always! **


	4. Hail

_**A/N: **_This one takes place shortly after the manga ends with a lucid-dream theme. It becomes slightly AU in nature towards the middle half of the story.

**04: Hail Storm Manga AU**

'_This is going to be a long day.'_ Maka realized; trying to ignore the faintly dull headache she had awoken to as she got ready for school.

It was a typical morning and as usual, Maka set up for breakfast by placing a pan on the stove for the eggs while putting two loafs of bread into the toaster.

Behind her, she could already hear Blair beginning to harass Soul.

"Come on Soul, why not take a day off from your training and stay here with me?" She cooed out into his ear.

Soul only growled and moved to shove her away to no avail as Blair continued to press up against him. Maka observed the scene with a side glance and gripped the pan handle a bit tighter when her eyes finally met Blair's.

'_She's waiting for you to react, to hit Soul again and cause a scene, but not today though…not when I already have this migraine.' _Maka thought, turning back around to make sure the eggs didn't burn.

A few minutes later, Maka set down the finished eggs and toast on the table and ate her plate in silence while Soul watched her uneasily.

'_She didn't hit me for Blair coming onto me again. Either she's waiting to just chop me when I least expect it or something's bothering her.' _Soul reasoned, but decided to wait on questioning her until later.

Meanwhile, Blair took Maka's lack of violence for a sign she could continue her flirtations as long as Maka was going to continue feigning ignorance.

It wasn't until Soul and Maka were midway in their walk to their respective classes that Soul could finally ask what was troubling her.

"There's nothing going on with me. Blair comes onto you every morning." Maka stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, and you always give me a Maka chop for it; except today you didn't." Soul responded back.

Maka shrugged her shoulders, the slight throbbing of her head returning back. "Today I didn't feel like it. Why, do you want me to hit you?"

Soul shook his head and scowled at Maka's disinterested answers before the sound of the bell going off signaled classes were about to begin. "Maka, you don't have to put up a front with me. You can tell me what's bugging you."

Maka said nothing back, watching Soul idly turn and stroll in the direction of where he always met Kid for his Death Scythe training.

Maka bit her lip in frustration until a tiny trickle of blood came, the metallic taste of blood providing a temporary distraction to the twinge in her chest at Soul's concern for her. She should be used to Blair's actions by now, really she should and yet, she wasn't. Maybe keeping up a façade was going to be harder than she thought.

'_If only Blair could just disappear…'_ Maka mused, before pushing the malicious thought away. What was jealousy doing to her? Even Soul's fangirls hadn't irked her to the point of wishing them gone…

Luckily, Maka's morning classes went on to remain relatively uneventful, leading her to believe that only the morning was going to be the worst part of the day. Wrong.

~**X**~

"Where do you want me to put these finished reports Professor Stein?" Maka asked him with a smile, once lecture was over.

Stein glanced back over the papers again briefly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Put them on top of the other stacks in my office; you know the same area."

Maka nodded her head and proceeded out of class down the hall to his office. Doing some busy work filing papers and taking notes had taken her mind off the incidents that had occurred this morning until she caught a glimpse of her Papa down the hall, with one of the newly hired secretaries.

Maka paused in her walk to observe the scene carefully. A part of her mind knew that had to be her Dad telling by his trademark red hair and usual business outfit, but another more wishful thinking side mused that could just be a random man; A random man showing no shame in his antics of brushing up along the woman's curves while she giggled and encouraged him along.

'_If I turn around now, I could pretend I saw nothing.' _Maka thought heatedly, already starting to crush the papers she needed to get to Stein's office.

"It must be embarrassing having a lecherous father like that. How do you deal with him?" A taunting voice whispered close by her.

Maka gave a side glance towards the voice and recognized the girl as a NOT student and one of Soul's many fan-girls. Perfect.

"Actually, It's not really too hard to put up with. In fact, I'll let him know how I feel right now." Maka replied back coldly, startling the girl to take a step back from her.

Maybe it was her frustration from this morning over her muddled feelings for Soul that she still hadn't gotten over or the embarrassment she felt that her Papa had the nerve to flirt at the school, but whatever it was, Maka could feel her anger boiling back up as she stomped over to her Dad.

The secretary was the first to notice Maka's presence as she quickly scooted away from Spirit's touch and smoothed out her skirt. "Well, I should really get going back to work now. It was nice talking to you."

Spirit frowned as the woman hastily sauntered off in the opposite direction, leaving him confused. "Wait, I know a place we could've gone to-"Spirit immediately cut himself off when he saw Maka approach him from the side.

"Oh, Maka darling! Heh, how long have you standing there?" He asked nervously.

Maka closed her eyes and took a deep breathe in to calm her nerves, but still found herself shaking with rage. "Oh you know… long enough."

"Papa can explain himself! You see, I was just going to show her-"Spirit stopped when he noticed the hardened glare Maka was sending him.

"I don't want your excuses! I know I can't stop you from going to ChupaCabras and flirting with woman, but you couldn't at least control yourself at school?!" Maka snapped out.

When Spirit gave no answer back, Maka continued on. "I can't believe you sometimes! I wish it was _**YOU**_ that left Death City and not Mama!"

Spirit's eyes widened at that as Maka lightly brushed her fingers against her lips in realization of what she said.

The similar ache she had felt this morning swept against her chest once more at the truly hurt look that came onto her Father's face before he straightened up and looked away.

"I…I didn't know you felt that way. I should go check and see if Kid needs anything." He grumbled out, going down the hall before Maka could give a response back.

'_Damn it, I let my anger get to me again! Stupid Papa, he should know I didn't really mean that…'_ Maka thought with a sigh, ignoring the whispers students made around her about the scene.

~**X**~

"Maka said that to her Dad, really?" Soul questioned Black Star in amusement, taking a break from his training to eat lunch under the shade of a tree.

Black Star nodded his head as he munched on a few chips. "So I've heard from the rumors going around the school. Her old man did not take it well."

Soul snorted as he took a chug from his soda. "I can imagine. Something's been bothering her lately, but she won't tell me what."

Black Star shrugged, crumpling up his now empty bag and throwing it into the trash. "It's too bad you don't understand woman like I do."

Soul stared at him blankly, mulling over his statement. "How could you say you understand woman when months ago you and Maka argued to the point that she ended up crying and running off over your 'understanding' behavior?"

"…I don't recall that." Black Star said simply, causing Soul to roll his eyes.

'_Nothing's really changed between us since I became a Death Scythe. Though we can't hang out as much, maybe that's what's troubling her.' _Soul wondered.

"I hate to interrupt your lunch Soul, but we should get back to business soon." Kid stated, coming up to the two of them.

Soul frowned and glanced up towards the darkening sky. "We can't cut it short today Kid? It looks like it's going to start pouring any minute now."

Kid shook his head, looking up to the sky as well. "You can't use the weather as an excuse. We'll stop once it actually starts coming down though."

Black Star snickered at Soul's annoyance before he got sent a glare to shut up. A short look at his watch let him know it was already half past 1.

'_Maka's going to be getting out her afternoon classes soon and heading home. Guess I'll have to wait till later this evening to clear things up with her.' _Soul thought with a sigh.

"This day is going from bad to basically horrible." Maka muttered under her breathe. She had been hoping she would at least be able to make it home before the storm started, but the small clattering noises she had heard against the rooftops the closer she got to outside let her know it had already begun.

Outside, she could see a few students hollering and running for the nearest cover as small white pellets blanketed the pavement. Maka reached down to pick one up and noticed it was a hailstone.

'_Hmm, taking out my umbrella would create the risk of holes getting into it. If these hailstones stay around this size though, then I should be able to make it home okay.' _Maka speculated, putting on her black jacket with a hood for some protection.

Maka kept to a brisk pace heading home until she witnessed what looked to be an elderly woman having trouble holding all her bags further down the block.

"Do you need some help mam?" Maka asked, already reaching out to grab one bag falling from her arms.

The woman's light blue eyes brightened at Maka's sudden kindness. "Thank you dear, I appreciate the help."

'_Well, at least I'll be making someone else's day better.' _Maka mused, helping the woman to carry the rest of her bags back to her home and set them down. Maka took note that woman's home had a mysterious air to it; there was a wide array of different glass bottles and knickknacks adorning her shelves along with pictures of places she had traveled to in her youth.

"You can take a seat if you want dear. I'll bring you out some tea." The woman called out from the kitchen, startling Maka from her thoughts.

Maka shook her head with a light smile. "Actually, I should really get heading back home now."

The woman arched an eyebrow at that, moving to open one of the kitchen's blinds. "In this weather? The hail is coming down even harder now."

Maka turned to look outside the living room's window and indeed saw that the hail had grown to around the size of tennis balls; most of it smashing sharply against the concrete of the road as thunder boomed in the distance.

"I wouldn't want you getting injured after you just helped me out. You're not in a hurry to get home, are you?" The woman questioned, setting up her tea-set behind her.

Instantly, thoughts of Blair's teasing her over this morning came to mind making Maka turn away from the window to sit down next to the woman. '_No, I'm not actually.'_

The woman calmly poured herself and Maka a glass and took a sip from hers. "Ah, so I'm Ms. Brown and my honored guest is…?"

"Oh, I'm Maka! You don't have to be so formal with me though." Maka stated with a laugh.

Ms. Brown nodded her head, placing her teacup delicately down. "So Maka, what caused you to be outside in the middle of a hail storm?"

Maka shrugged, wondering if she should even bother this old woman with her trivial problems. "I was trying to get home before it got even worse, but I guess that didn't work out."

Ms. Brown carefully clasped her fingers together, her blue eyes shining with mirth. "It seems like you have other things on your mind too. We have the time now, so why not get it off your chest?"

Maka scrunched up her face at the thought of throwing her problems at a stranger she had just met, but she did look curious to know what was bothering her. After retelling her story of the events leading up till now, Maka silently admitted to herself that she did feel a tad bit better.

Ms. Brown slowly stirred a spoon in her tea, gingerly thinking over Maka's issues. "If I'm getting your story straight, you desire for your father to stop his flirting and for your vixen roommate to stop coming onto your man, correct?"

Maka felt her cheeks turn a reddish hue at her assumption of calling Soul 'her man' "I didn't refer to Soul as that, but yes, that's it in a nutshell."

"Is that really what you want?" Ms. Brown asked quietly.

Maka shrugged her shoulders, not sure where she was going with this. "It would be nice if only for a while I didn't have to deal with my Father's constant pursuit of new woman and Blair's taunts."

Ms. Brown nodded her head mischievously and got up to get something from her room without another word. Maka blinked in confusion at her sudden departure, only for her to return back into the room with an elixir in her hands.

"I can give you that experience. " Ms. Brown stated, straight to the point.

Maka furrowed her brows, scooting back even more into her chair if possible. "What do you mean?"

"You could experience what it's like to live in a world where all those problems you just mentioned wouldn't exist. It would sort of be like having a lucid dream to make it sound simpler." She explained.

"I don't believe in any of that stuff." Maka replied back curtly, already feeling uncomfortable by the woman's sudden change in behavior.

Ms. Brown sighed resolutely and set the glass down next to them. "Many of my past customers were skeptics as you are right now. Neither the potion nor I will harm you in anyway; it will only make you sleep for the next 2 hours. I would wake you up when the all the time has elapsed."

Maka still shook her head, but the smirk Ms. Brown continued to send her was beginning to make her curious if even for a brief moment to experience life if things were different. '_A world where Blair doesn't live with us, where it's my Mama who's around and my Papa is gone, and even Soul reciprocates my feelings…but none it would actually be real.'_

"If there's really no harm in it, then I guess I could try it out while the storm passes. Though I still don't believe I will actually experience anything. Maka stated firmly.

Ms. Brown chuckled at that and handed her the drink. "Now, all you need to do is close your eyes and slowly drink the potion while calmly focusing your mind.

Maka nodded her head warily before following her directions. "How long should I keep my eyes closed?"

"You can open them on the count of 3. 1…2…3!" Ms. Brown spoke out softly, clapping her hands together gently as Maka opened her eyes once again.

"See, I told you nothing was going to happen-?" Maka trailed off when she noticed Ms. Brown was no longer sitting in front of her.

~**X**~

"What the; where did she go?" Maka whispered out, looking in all directions for the elderly woman. She wasn't in her kitchen or upstairs after Maka did a sweeping search of the house.

Maka glanced back at the table in the living room and noticed there was no longer any tea-set there either.

'_She could just be trying to trick me into believing she disappeared, but I don't think she would go walking out into a storm.' _Maka pondered, opening the living room's blinds to peer outside.

Apparently in the midst of her searching, she hadn't noticed the hailing really had stopped. Maka glanced over the damp sidewalk and saw that sun appeared to be close to setting.

"I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, but Soul is probably wondering where the heck I am." Maka mumbled, heading outside to get a better look at things. The scent of rain still permeated the air, but other than that; nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Maka turned the stare back at the front of Ms. Brown's home and gaped when she saw the outside of her house appeared to be in shambles with holes littering the rooftop and rotten floor boards along the front porch. The house resembled more of an abandoned one than one anyone would want to live in.

'_Maybe I didn't notice how it looked from the outside since the hail obscured my vision or possibly the hail damaged it?' _Maka contemplated on her walk back to her apartment.

Maka grinned in relief when she made it back home and found Soul on the couch watching some random show. Soul muted the show to send her a scowl. "Where the hell have you been? Didn't you notice the messages I left you on your phone?"

"Err no, I got distracted…" Maka muttered.

Soul still looked annoyed before he let out a sigh and ruffled her hair lightly. "I bet you were waiting out the storm in the library again, right?"

"Um yeah, anyways, I should get started on dinner since it's my turn to cook." Maka stated, changing the topic.

Soul shook his head as he pointed to the take-out he had already bought. "I got that on my way home. You can relax for the rest of the night."

Maka stared at the take-out for a moment before slowly nodding her head. It wasn't until Maka took off her wet jacket and put it with the rest of her dirty laundry that she realized Blair hadn't come out to greet her.

"Hey Soul, where's Blair? Has she already gone off to work for the night?" Maka questioned.

Soul glanced away from the TV to send her a puzzled expression. "Who's Blair?"

'_Is he messing with me?' _Maka thought with a groan. "You know who I'm talking about. The cat who came to live with us after we accidently assumed she was a witch. Always coming onto you?"

Soul's puzzled look seemed to deepen even further before he eventually grinned. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds interesting. Did you read this in one of your books or something?"

Maka growled and bit back her urge to curse. "No, this is not something I made up! She made us have to start all over in our collection of souls, remember that?!"

"Maka, I think I would remember something as critical as _**that**_ happening, but as far as I know, I've been a Death Scythe for at least a good few months now; probably a year now actually." Soul answered back coolly.

'_That's impossible.' _Maka mused, ready to make a retort back, but noticed a newspaper clipping Soul was pointing to on the wall. Maka walked over to it and looked over the headline and date in awe. November 17th 2013: Soul Eater Evans becomes youngest known Death Scythe by meister Maka Albarn!

Maka continued to read over the paper and glance over the photos in shock. There were pictures of her and Soul not only with Lord Death, but also with her mother.

'_How is this possible; I don't even remember any of this stuff happening! Soul couldn't have been a Death Scythe for this long…and why is…why is Mama here in these photos too?' _Maka wondered in stunned silence.

Soul came up behind her and patted her on the back soothingly. "Are you all right Maka? You look a bit pale."

Maka managed to weakly nod her head, placing the framed article back onto the wall. "I think I just need to lie down is all."

Soul looked like he wanted to say more, but Maka took off to her room before he could get a word out.

"This isn't right; what the heck is going on?" Maka whispered to herself, sliding shakily down her closed door. Surely her childish and silly desires hadn't become real, had they?

Everything that was happening had to be fantasy; that was all she needed to tell herself. No matter how real it seemed…

~**X**~

"Are you feeling any better Maka?" Soul asked her the next day in their typical walk to school.

Maka nodded her head, but truthfully her head was pounding even more now in confusion and worry. How could it be that Soul didn't notice anything off about Blair suddenly not living with them or her Mama coming back from her trip around the world? '_If we never fought Blair, then that means so many other things haven't happened…that means Soul doesn't have Black Blood because we never needed to go to Italy and it also means we never met Crona! How did we win those other fights without using that power?'_

To her surprise, Soul reached out and grabbed her hand to give it a gentle squeeze and help ease her thoughts. "To me, it seemed like you saw a ghost yesterday when I showed you that newspaper article. It seems you've been troubled ever since then."

"That's because I don't remember any of that happening." Maka grumbled, causing Soul to frown. '_Did she lose her memories somehow?' _Soul thought.

"I'm not sure why you don't recall such an important day, but I'll help you remember after I finish my exercises with Kid." Soul stated with a smirk, moving to give a light kiss to her cheek before leaving.

'_What was that for? Soul and I don't have that type of relationship.' _Maka mused, the warmth from the spot making her whole face feel flushed and slightly dizzy.

"Maka, shouldn't you be getting to class, too?" Kami called out from her side, breaking her mood.

For a second, Maka could only gape at seeing her mother again in person. The matching blonde hair and sharp green eyes along with the strong-willed personality she always tried to emulate were gazing back at her with a stern look.

"Mama, when did you get back home?!" Maka suddenly cried out, leaping to give her a hug.

Kami looked down at Maka in bewilderment before she gently pried her off. "I've always been here."

"No, you haven't! You went on a trip around the world after you divorced Papa." Maka said back.

Kami's eyes darkened for a second at the mention of Spirit, but she managed to gain back a meager smile. "You know your father was the one who wanted to go off on a journey."

A part of her wanted to question her mother further on that, but it would probably just end the same way it had when she had brought up Blair to Soul. Besides that, the look her mother was giving her seemed off somehow…

"Hey Mama, if you're not busy later, could we spend some time together?" Maka asked.

"Doing what?" Kami questioned flatly.

"Ah, I'm not sure. We could check out that new bistro that opened up around the corner." Maka suggested.

Kami shrugged, but nodded her head in agreement. "We can meet at 3 I suppose, but for now you should really get going to class."

"I know this must be a dream, but I want to enjoy it as much as possible. Something like this could never happen in reality!"Maka whispered to herself excitedly.

Even the rest of her school day had gone well. None of Soul's fan-girls came to pester her and all of the rest of Spartoi were acting pretty much the same as usual.

'_If I really think about it, everything I told Ms. Brown I yearned to happen has come true. The only thing I still wonder about though is how I'll wake back up…not that I'm ready to right now.' _Maka thought with a grin, opening her locker to put away a textbook when she was suddenly greeted with a mass of letters spilling out.

"What is all this?" Maka inquired aloud.

"Your partner request letters, you always get those." Soul stated, walking up next to her.

Maka cocked her head in confusion at the range of small to large envelopes. "I think they must have mistaken my locker for yours."

Soul arched an eyebrow before he let out a laugh. "No, they've always been sending you letters, especially after you made me into a Death Scythe."

'_What the hell? No they haven't! Soul is the one who's popular, not me…This wasn't even something I particularly wished to happen.'_

"Hey, since Kid let me out of training early, want to go get a bite to eat? Maybe I can help jog back your memory too." Soul prompted with a smirk.

Maka grinned back, but frowned when she remembered the prior agreement she had made with her mother. "Actually, I was going to checkout that new bistro with my mom."

Soul snorted at the mention of Kami. "What? Why do want to spend time with her?"

Maka scowled at Soul's answer. "Well, why not?! What's wrong with her, hmm?"

'_Only that she's a coldhearted asshole.' _Soul thought, shaking his head when Maka was sending him a menacing glare. "Never mind, I'll just meet you at home later."

Maka huffed as she trudged to meet Kami outside the bistro. Even if Soul seemed to have a bad attitude about her, she wasn't about to let that ruin her mood.

When about 20 minutes of waiting had passed though, Maka was beginning to ponder herself if her mother had forgotten about their meeting.

Maka ruffled her plaid red skirt restlessly for any sign of Kami and grinned eagerly when she caught a glimpse of ash blonde hair walking around the corner.

Maka straightened up to greet her, but hesitated when she saw the expression on Kami's face. '_That look…I know that look. It's the look __**I **__get when I have to go do something with Papa. Mama doesn't really want to spend time with me…' _

Kami eventually approached Maka and gave her a smile that could now tell was fake. "So, are you ready to head in?"

"Ah actually, something important came up at home. Perhaps some other time?" Maka lied.

Kami blinked in puzzlement before nodding her head. "If that's what you want. Are you sure?"

Maka nodded her head firmly, swallowing to push back the tears threatened to spill from her eyes. If Kami didn't actually want to spend time with her, she wasn't about to force her to. Dream or not.

Maka sighed as she brushed away a few warm tears from her cheeks trudging home. Her so called perfect illusion had just given her the bitter taste of how things really were. '_That's exactly how you treat and behave around your Papa most of the time anyways. Now you know he feels.' _A harsh part of her mind snapped at her, as she closed the front door.

"You're home earlier than expected, what happened to meeting with your mom?" Soul asked from the sofa, but stopped his teasing when he noticed the tear stains on Maka's cheeks.

"Whoa, what caused this to occur?" Soul questioned, brushing her hair out of her face. Maka only sighed and gently pushed his hands away.

"You were right. Mama didn't honestly want to meet with me so I saved her the trouble of forcing herself too." Maka said softly.

"How could you even tell?" Soul asked.

"She had the same look on her face that I get when I have to do something I don't want to do." Maka clarified.

Soul winced at that though a sly smile quickly came back onto his face. "Want me to get your mind off of her?"

Maka moved to lazily sprawl herself against the couch with Soul following after her. "Yeah sure, I guess."

It probably hadn't even been a few minutes before Maka could distinctly feel a grazing sensation against her neck.

"Soul…what are you doing?" Maka breathed out, squirming when he moved his kisses towards her collarbone.

"Making you forget, what else?" Soul replied back naturally, shifting his kisses upward until their lips met.

Any thoughts of uncertainty towards doing this started to slowly descend from her mind once Soul started to push her against the couch and deepen their kisses. All of heated caresses he left along her back and intense stares he gave her in the growing darkness of their apartment were creating a blurred line between fantasy and reality.

Soul shifted in his position on top of her causing a soft moan to leave her lips. "Let's go to my room." He murmured, already beginning to lift Maka up.

Maka almost dazedly curled into his arms in agreement, lust about to win her over until a foggy part of her conscience reminded her that this Soul wasn't real. None of this was real.

'_How could I almost forget that?' _Maka questioned herself in a panic, pushing Soul back in alarm with the truth weighing into her mind in a rush.

"What's wrong Maka?" Soul asked in concern. Maka turned back to face him and nearly crumpled at the look of longing and worry etched on his face.

But these longing looks he had been giving her along with the warmth of his body pressed against hers were only just figments of her dream. A dream she needed to awaken from.

"You're not real. And I can't…I can't go on pretended that this is real when I know it isn't." Maka quietly murmured.

Soul gained a baffled expression and moved to reach out to her, but Maka only moved to sit up and readjust her clothes.

"Do you really want to wake up even knowing that this is just a dream?" Soul inquired gently.

Maka nodded her head adamantly, sending Soul a soft smile. "Yes, I won't delude myself to living in a world of fantasy. I only need to figure out how to wake up though."

Soul grinned and patted Maka's shoulders lightly. "You can wake up anytime you want to, Maka."

Maka didn't understand what he meant until it seemed like he was starting to shake her shoulders even harder.

Maka eventually blearily opened her eyes and found she was no longer in her apartment, but back at Ms. Brown's house once more.

"Welcome back." Ms. Brown said with a laugh, chuckling at Maka's sleepy disposition.

~**X**~

"So, all of that really was a dream?" Maka mumbled, not sure she wanted to believe it.

Ms. Brown nodded her head with a smile. "You were out for about 2 hours like I said. It was a bit hard to wake you back up though."

Maka rubbed her eyes tiredly and glanced down at the half-empty elixir sitting on the floor. She didn't even remember falling asleep; it had all happened so fast.

"Tell me Maka, did you have a nice dream?" Ms. Brown asked curiously.

"It was nice in the beginning, but I had to remind myself that everything that was happened wasn't real." Maka mused.

"That's the power of a lucid-dream. The dreamer knows they are in a dream and have the power to control it any way they like." Ms. Brown explained.

'_Nothing beats reality though, that much I know from what I thought I desired…'_Maka realized.

"I'm sorry I kept you here so long; the hailstorm has already stopped. I'm pretty sure that Soul person you mentioned earlier is worried about you since your phone kept going off while you slept." Ms. Brown stated, causing Maka to look at her phone to see the missed calls and texts Soul had sent her.

Maka sat up from the chair and stretched her arms out before sending Ms. Brown one last smile. "Thank you for letting me wait out the storm in your home. I appreciate it."

Ms. Brown shook her head with a smile. "It was nice having company over. I hope your dream taught you a thing or two."

Maka nodded her head with a grin. Just before Maka turned to head down the sidewalk, she glanced back over the exterior of Ms. Brown's home and beamed when she saw the house no longer looked like the mess it had been in her dream.

On the way back to the apartment, Maka made a quick stop at ChupaCabras and naturally found her father sitting at one of the booths after asking Blair where he was.

Spirit nearly sputtered out his beer when he saw Maka standing across from him. "Why…why are you here?"

Maka frowned at the loud music blaring inside the club. "We should talk outside."

Outside, Maka shuffled at her feet while her Spirit watched her unusual nervous behavior. "Why have you come here Maka? Were you dared to meet up with me again by your friends?"

"No, that's not it! I came to apologize for what I said to you earlier." Maka said seriously.

Spirit looked surprised for a moment before he frowned. "You don't really mean that. I know how much you prefer your mother over me. I'm sorry I can't be her, but-"

"It's okay that you're not her. I'm just glad you're here for me and you still try to help me even though I don't need it most of the time." Maka stated sincerely.

Spirit found himself tearing up at Maka's words. "Oh, apology accepted!" He cried out, pulling Maka into a hug which she awkwardly managed to return.

"I should get heading back home now." Maka grumbled out, squirming out of her Papa's grip.

Spirit looked sad for a second before he nodded his head in agreement. "That's true; it is a school night after all."

Blair came outside to make sure the two were okay and pouted when saw that Maka was already heading home.

"Aww, I didn't get a chance to apologize for teasing her so much earlier! I was only hoping it could finally push her and Soul to hook up faster." Blair huffed out.

"I'm sure she already knows…wait a minute what were you trying to do with her and Soul?!" Spirit answered back.

When Maka finally reached her apartment, she found Soul leaning against her doorway with a scowl.

"Care to explain why the hell you ignored my texts and phone calls?"

'_I wonder if the excuse I used in my dream will work now.' _Maka pondered. "Err; I was waiting out the storm in the library?

Soul only snorted, moving off her door. "No you weren't."

"Well, it was worth a try." Maka whispered under her breathe, sighing at the glare Soul was still sending her.

Soul looked her over for a moment before relaxed slightly when he realized how tired Maka seemed. "Maka, what's been bothering you lately?"

Maka furrowed her brows as memories of her dream and earlier in day came back to her. "I'm sorry I've been worrying you. I guess I've just been troubled by all the recent changes that have happened since you became a Death Scythe."

"If it's because we can't hang out as much then I can start skipping my lessons." Soul said with a smirk.

Maka shook her head with a laugh, surprising Soul by gently embracing him in a hug.

Maka beamed and gave a slow glance around the apartment. Blair's food bowl still remained half empty in the corner and pictures of the distinct places and friends they had made over the years still decorated the walls.

Soul gradually tightened his grip on her as Maka looked back up at him to send him a small smile.

She was home and this was all real.

~_**x**_~


	5. Thunderstorms

**A/N**: It's been awhile since I've done these, but it's nice to be writing these one-shots again now that I have a break. So please let me know your thoughts as always! :) This one takes place after the manga's end and is loosely based off of a nice off competition I watched between Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen DeGeneres lol.

**05: Thunderstorms**

'_I guess the power isn't going to come back on after all.' _Maka thought grudgingly, a flash of light followed by a crackling boom echoing in the distance of her now darkened room.

It had been raining off and on throughout the day, but the worst of the storms hadn't come until night had already fallen upon the city.

Maka briefly pulled her curtain open, another streak of lightning flashing across the blackened sky as rain and wind continued to howl and pierce the window.

"Looks like you won't be getting that new chapter done anytime soon." Soul commented from behind her, resting against her doorframe.

"Yeah and I suppose you won't be getting to the next level in that game either." Maka retorted back, leaning back against her pillows with a huff.

Soul frowned when Maka made no move to get up from her bed. "So, you're just going to sit in bed all night then? I don't think the power is going to return with you being all mopey about it, especially when it's only a little past 7:30pm right now."

"My books don't run on electricity, I can always you use a flashlight or a candle to finish reading where I left off." Maka explained, clicking on her nearby mini flashlight she kept by her bed for emphasis.

Maka could tell in the darkness Soul had probably rolled his eyes at her answer, scoffing as he moved off her door. "You'll strain your eyes doing that and besides, it's a waste of the battery's energy to spend it on reading some book you can look at any time."

'_Just because he's bored since his game no longer works, doesn't mean he has to come here and bother me.' _Maka reflected irritably, finally tossing her bed-spread covers off to get out of bed.

"There isn't much we can do in this darkness. The power might not even come back until tomorrow morning with how bad it is outside." Maka muttered, Soul trailing behind her as she went towards the kitchen.

'_What is she planning to do then?' _Soul pondered, watching as Maka fumbled around the cabinets in search of something, using his own cellphone's flashlight to help her see until she came upon what she was looking for: candles.

"Why exactly were you looking for those?" Soul remarked, continuing to watch her set up the candles and light a match.

"You said it yourself; we shouldn't waste our phones or flashlight's battery and energy on useless things. So let's use these candles in the meantime to help see each other and where we're going." Maka explained.

"The candle's wax will only leave a mess for us to clean up afterwards though." Soul muttered, with Maka elbowing him to simply shut up and just help her finish lighting them around the living room.

Maka beamed as the room slowly became lighted, the red-orange hue from the candles along with the lavender scent they gave off created a calming atmosphere.

"See, nothing for you to really complain about now that we can actually properly walk around without bumping into things." Maka said, sitting back against the living room sofa across from Soul who was sitting on the floor.

"I suppose, as long as we don't end up burning the place down." Soul replied, grinning at the annoyed look he got.

'_Hmm, all these candles remind me of that lesson Stein gave us way back when…what did we have to do again? …Oh yeah, we we're supposed to name all the bad qualities we saw in each other. That gives me an idea since we have nothing to do in this blackout pretty much.' _Maka pondered, watching as Soul flipped through a nearby magazine in boredom.

"Hey Soul, I have an idea on how we can pass the time while this storm is still ongoing." Maka piped up.

Soul sent her a puzzled look at how excited she seemed. A part of him expected her to say something involving doing reading or a puzzle, but her smirking told him otherwise.

"All these candles surrounding us remind me of back when Professor Stein gave us that one lesson involving naming all our negative aspects about each other." Maka went on.

Soul arched an eyebrow, yawning as he shrugged his shoulders gently. "Yeah, what's your point?"

Maka scowled for a moment at his apparent lack of interest, deciding she needed to get straight to the point. "I think we should do something similar to that, except this time we come up with only nice things to say to each other. The first person to insult the other loses the challenge."

Soul weighed the bet in mind, chuckling a bit at how unusual it seemed. "It sounds interesting enough, is there some type of reward for the winner though?"

Maka nodded her head, blushing slightly when Soul's grin grew even wider. "We can for now just go with the loser has to do whatever the other person wants for one day, but nothing too extreme or stupid! Sound fair?"

Soul agreed, reaching out the shake her hand when she pushed it towards him. "You know, this idea sounds pretty lame, but it beats sitting here doing nothing for who knows how many more hours."

"Soul, that sounded awfully like an insult to me. Are you ready to really lose before the game actually even starts?" Maka asked teasingly, snickered at his fleeting flustered look.

Soul sat up a bit straighter, another boom of thunder rattling the room gently. Fitting for how intense this game of theirs could possibly get.

"Alright, who's going to be the one to start this off?" Soul questioned.

Maka pointed towards herself, grinning confidently. "I will since I'm the one who came up with it in the first place. The game officially starts now; no more insults, and that includes sarcastic ones as well."

~**X**~

"I think we should start out with small compliments and work our way out from there. So Soul, I don't think I've ever told you, but I find your shark-like teeth one of the most interesting things about you; it makes you stand out from others." Maka explained, smiling at Soul's perplexed expression.

'_Geez, I can see that we're more than likely going to be tossing out silly or corny compliments just to keep from saying something sarcastic or mean. I want to win this though, there's no telling what Maka might make me do, even if it would only be for a day.' _Soul reasoned, observing as Maka waited for his response.

"Okay then, thanks; I suppose I never knew that. I think you look better with your hair down." Soul replied back, smiling behind the palm of his hand at her startled reaction.

"Hey, you're…you're not just saying that for the sake of the game, are you?" Maka questioned, fiddling with her hair a bit at the response.

Soul arched an eyebrow at the question before shaking his head. "You don't think I'm being honest?"

"No, you're actually one of the most honest guys I know." Maka answered sincerely with a smile.

Soul smirked at that, crossing his arms over his chest as he realized her response made it his turn again. "Hmm, oh you're pretty much the smartest girl in school."

Maka resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but giggled nonetheless. "Yeah, thanks I guess."

"What do you mean by 'I guess' it sounds like you don't accept my compliment." Soul remarked.

Maka quickly shook her head in defense at his accusation. "No, it's not that! It's just I figure anyone could make the same grades as I do when they study and put in the time and effort; like Ox for example."

Soul was about to reply back when another crackle of thunder interrupted him. They each turned towards the window as another flash of lightning passed by.

"Let's stop the game for a moment to check it out." Soul suggested, already standing up to head over to the window.

Maka peered downward towards the streets, noticing the heavy rain was beginning to flood the streets as the drains became overfilled. "Do you think with all this rain that school might be cancelled tomorrow?"

Soul grinned at the thought before shrugging his shoulders. "It's possible, but that would just mean more make up work for us to do and we would be stuck in here all day."

Maka nodded her head, silently pondering what she could say next when they eventually returned back to their game. '_We've only been playing for maybe around close to an hour, but it feels like I'm already running out of nice things to say to him that wouldn't sound like I'm repeating myself. I don't want to sound like I'm being dishonest by blurting out something random…'_

"Maka, are you ready to get back to the challenge or are you going to stand there staring off into space?" Soul questioned, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Hmm, oh yeah I'm coming." Maka grumbled, following him back to the living room.

They each took their respective seats from earlier as Soul studied her expression carefully. "So, it looked like you were pretty deep in thought back there. Having a hard time coming up with something good to say about me? Or you can forfeit now if you want."

Maka scoffed, shaking her head. "No, there are plenty of nice things I can say about you! How you're always there for me even when I don't believe I need it, how you let me listen to you play even though you think you suck, and even just that you make me laugh when Papa has done something to annoy me."

Maka slowly began to stop herself, blushing when she realized she had gone off on a tangent instead of simply giving Soul a short and quick answer.

Soul could feel his own face reddening before reaching out to lightly grip her hand to regain her attention. "Yeah, I feel the same way; there are too many nice things I can say about you that it's difficult to pick just one."

Maka relaxed a bit at his answer, neither saying anything over the next couple of minutes until she realized their game was going nowhere once more. "Uh Soul, you do realize it's your turn now, right?"

Soul shook his head, grinning as he calmly used his free hand to point a finger back at her. "No it's not. I just said mine."

'_What, he's counting a compliment of basically what I said?! Ugh, maybe he really doesn't want to lose this after all.' _Maka thought irritability.

"How long do you think this game is going to last?" Maka asked, beginning to wonder now how serious Soul actually was about winning.

Soul broke away their grip to stretch his arms out, leaning back lazily. "I guess probably until the power comes back on or you slip up and insult me."

Maka withheld the urge to snap at that comment. "Anyways, no more going off-topic; give me a second to think of something new to say."

~**X**~

As Maka had considered in the following passing hour, this little challenge she had come up with was going on longer than she thought it would and to her mild surprise, Soul continued to dish out new compliments she never thought he would say.

Soul snickered at Maka's dazed look. "I've stumped you now, haven't I?"

"Well to be honest, yes and no. You've never said things like I'm pretty or smart before without some sarcastic response coming afterwards; I'm not used to it." Maka explained softly.

Soul scratched his head uncomfortably as he took in Maka words. '_She makes a good point, no wonder she didn't believe me earlier. Most of what I say to her she probably assumes will be an insult.'_

"Anyways, I do appreciate it. It would be nice if you could say things like this more often instead of calling me a bookworm, nerd, tiny tits, boring…" Maka cut herself off as Soul held up a hand to stop her.

"Okay, I get the point; I'm an asshole occasionally." Soul mused as Maka laughed.

"Only occasionally, huh? At least you're showing me more of your true feelings as I'm beginning to see." Maka mentioned, amused when Soul avoided her knowing look.

Soul was about to speak up again when a buzzing noise interrupted him once more followed by a flicker as the lights came back on.

Maka blinked as her eyes readjusted from the dark. "Ah, it seems like the power outage isn't going to last all night after all."

Soul nodded his head, watching as Maka stood up to blow out a few remaining candles that hadn't already gone out. "Hold on, we can't be too sure the power isn't going to go out again when it's still storming outside."

"I've already blown all of them out except for this one. What, do you still want to continue the game?" Maka questioned, glancing back towards him.

"Yeah, you're not the type to just stop in the middle of something. Let's finish this game how we started it." Soul explained, getting up and turning back off the lights.

Maka reluctantly agreed, taking a seat across from him once more. "If you want to be defeated that badly, then fine by me."

Soul said nothing back for a second, pointing towards the dripping wax of the last candle. "I'm going to win before this last candle goes out."

Maka arched an eyebrow at his sudden confidence. '_What trick does he have up his sleeve to make him say that? There's no way either of us is going to back down and this candle is already half-way done.'_

"Alright go ahead and say it then, since you're so assured that you'll win." Maka spoke up, stomach fluttering when Soul abruptly stood up and pulled her to her feet.

"Maka, I trust you; you're one of my best friends." Soul said easily, while Maka blinked in puzzlement. '_That can't be all he was going to say to think he was going to win, is it? Such a cheesy line like that won't do anything.'_

Soul shook his head, chuckling at Maka's confused expression. "Don't think I'm finished yet, the reason I've grown to trust you so much is because I really like you."

Maka stared at him blankly, waiting for him to add in a sudden teasing remark to throw her off, but Soul only kept the same warm grin as he patted her reddening cheeks gently. "I'm not joking; if only you could see the look on your face though."

"Prove it." Maka stated pointedly, voice quieting under Soul's stare. "I want to know for sure I can believe you."

Soul nearly sighed at her recent lack of belief in him, tugging her towards him for what he assumed would only be a brief kiss until he felt Maka began to return it, slowly leaning in towards his touch.

"Do you need any more proof? I'm sure next time I can get the taste of the snack you were eating before the power went out." Soul asked amusingly, brushing a finger against her lips when he finally pulled away.

"Don't be stupid, Soul. It's hard enough to tell when you are or aren't messing with me." Maka sputtered before freezing as she realized her words.

Soul smiled broadly, lowering his head to whisper in her ears. "Guess who just loss a bet?"

~**X**~

"Why is Maka in such a bad mood?" Black Star asked aloud, observing as she picked at her salad bitterly the next day during lunch.

"Because Soul doesn't play fair, that's why!" Maka snapped at him, causing Black Star to slink back from her.

Black Star furrowed his brows, sending Soul a bewildered look. "What's her problem?"

Soul simply shrugged, smug at the faint blush that passed on Maka's face when he caught her eyes. "She's mad because she lost a game we played to pass the time last night while the power was out and therefore, lost our bet as well."

"What game we're you two playing to get a reaction like that though?" Liz asked curiously, amused when they both became silent.

Maka eventually took a bite from salad with a huff while Soul decided to speak up. "The game was some stupid challenge Maka came up with, but the main point of it was whoever loss would have to do whatever the other person said for one day."

Black Star laughed as Soul finished his explanation as Tsubaki and Liz sent Maka surprised stares.

"Maka, why would you agree to something like that?" Tsubaki questioned, brushing some crumbs off her shirt.

Maka sighed, ignoring Black Star's snickering from beside her. "I thought I would win. Besides, what did you guys all do while it was raining and thundering?"

"I worked out as usual while Tsubaki counted." Black Star mentioned.

Liz observed her pink nail polish with a smile. "I was painting my nails, I'm pretty sure Patty slept through the storm while Kid was just reorganizing the whole house as usual."

'_They make it seem like Soul and I were the only ones doing something strange.' _Maka realized, taking a sip from her drink quietly.

Liz carefully clasped her fingers together, a sly smile coming onto her face as she focused back on Maka and Soul. "So, is one of you going to tell us why Soul 'doesn't play fair' as you say?"

Maka immediately felt her cheeks grow hot, sending a side glance towards Soul who looked equally unsure on what to say.

Liz giggled at their flustered looks, shaking her head when the bell saved them from answering. "You two got lucky from that. I'm still curious to know what happened."

"You have death scythe lessons with Kid this afternoon, right?" Maka eventually asked gently before the two separated in the halls once they were away from the rest of group.

Soul nodded his head, calming down from his embarrassment from earlier. "By the way, I'm not a dirty cheater; I played the game exactly as you stated the rules to be."

"I never said those words! But did you did use dirty tactics to win, kissing me and confessing isn't even a compliment! I shouldn't have even counted those." Maka hissed quietly.

"You called me stupid though; that could've hurt my feelings!" Soul retorted back teasingly while Maka rolled her eyes.

Soul reached down and lightly kissed her cheek as they reached their crossroads at the end of the all. "Well, you'll be expecting to do something from me in the next coming days. Don't worry; I'm not going to make you do anything too terrible."

Maka snorted at that, but still couldn't keep the smile from creeping up on her face. "Yeah, like I can believe that after everything you've already done."

~**X**~

'_Is this really what Soul wanted to use for his win? I guess I shouldn't complain though.'_ Maka questioned herself, keeping up with Soul's pace as they strolled around the city. After being cooped in the apartment for days due to the stormy afternoon and evening weather, it was nice to go out again and enjoy a sunny day together.

"Are you sure going out with me is what you really wanted to use this bet for?" Maka inquired, peering up to meet Soul's scarlet eyes.

"Yeah, why else would I have asked you? All you were going to do was sit and read your books all day if I hadn't asked you out." Soul replied back, chuckling as she could only send a glare in response. He had specifically told her to leave any books she may use to hit him with back at home as part of the bet as well.

"Where exactly are we going anyways? It's not to anywhere I can recognize." Maka asked, frowning when Soul only smiled as an answer.

"There's more to this city than just the school, the café, and library you know, we're not going to any of those places." Soul explained, leading her through a series of alleyways until they were just outside the outskirts of the city.

"This is the hideaway place I found while trying to take a break from Kid's lessons; we can chill out here for a while without anyone bugging us I'm sure." Soul stated, glancing around the area for anyone else to just in case.

Maka beamed as she took in the mountainous landscape and rock formations surrounding them before turning back towards Soul. "Wow, you know how to find the best views and spots even if it's for the wrong reasons, but how do we get back to main part of the city?"

"…Err, don't worry about that right now and just enjoy the view. It's not often we can stop and see sites like this much anyways." Soul replied.

Maka narrowed her eyes at Soul's obvious avoidance of her question, but silently agreed with him as he took a seat next to her in the grass nearby.

"Don't you get to see views like this when you're traveling with Kid on some mission?" Maka suddenly asked.

Soul shook his head, observing the passing clouds idly. "Nope, Kid keeps to a rigid schedule, so there's hardly any time for breaks unless it's for eating or sleeping when he's in training mode."

Maka laughed at that as Soul began to lie down, presumably to take a nap. It was only few minutes later though that he reopened his eyes as he heard a crunching noise nearby him.

Soul lazily opened one eye and saw that Maka was eating some chips with a sandwich lying in her lap.

"So you decided to only pack a lunch for yourself?" Soul questioned, getting Maka's attention away from the view.

Maka looked down at her sandwich before shrugging her shoulders innocently. "We only had enough bread to make one sandwich. You can have the other half though if you're that hungry."

Soul shook his head, sleepiness fading as he sat up. "No thanks, but how about we make a bet on it?"

Maka wiped her lips with napkin before scowling. "Oh, I see where this is going. I'm not placing anymore bets with you; especially not over a sandwich!"

Soul snickered, leaning in towards her. "This doesn't have to be about the sandwich Maka. I mean just because you lost one game doesn't mean you'll lose again."

Maka rubbed her chin thoughtfully before smirking. "Well, if you're going to plan on playing dirty to win again possibly, then I am to. What stakes do you have in mind this time?"

"The same as before that we avoid insulting the other except this time let's see who can last the rest of the week without cracking; especially now that our friends and your Dad may somehow get involved. Are you up for it?" Soul explained.

Maka's green eyes lit up with knowing determination that matched Soul's toothy grin, already reaching her hand out to shake on the agreement.

"You're on."

~x~


	6. Windy

**A/N:** High School AU with a pen-pal theme, thanks for taking time out to read!

**06: Windy**

"Don't you think this is one of the silliest ideas she's come up with?" Maka whispered to Tsubaki, keeping her voice low to prevent Ms. Marie from hearing them.

Tsubaki shrugged, trying to remain focused on the lesson, but clearly was beginning to lose attention as the end of class drew near. "It is one her more unusual English assignments, but you like writing! This will be easy for you I bet."

Maka was about to digress when the bell signaling the end of class stopped her. She and Tsubaki quickly gathered their supplies together to leave out while Marie's voice called out to the class over the growing noise.

"Don't forget ladies that your first pen-pal writing assignment is due next week! While I'm not going to read over everything you discuss, please put some effort into it as it is a semester long project that will count for 10% of your overall grade!" Marie yelled out cheerfully.

Maka sighed as her words echoed through her head as they walked into the halls. "I still don't get why she's making a pen-pal writing assignment worth so much or even why we have to write to some strangers halfway across the world."

"I do agree it sounds a bit childish, especially since we're high school students, but I think it will be interesting to learn about how school and life is in America. Besides, we've never really traveled outside of England unless you count want to count to neighboring countries." Tsubaki mentioned.

'_It's technically not a new country for me though; after all, I did grow up in America at least for a little bit with Papa.' _Maka pondered, pausing in her musings when she noticed Tsubaki shuffling through her backpack for something.

"What are you looking for?" Maka questioned, trying to peer over her shoulder to see.

"Oh, I was just trying to remember the name of the guy who I drew from Ms. Marie's hat. I want to get started on writing it tonight." Tsubaki explained, continuing to search for the scratch sheet of paper.

Maka scoffed, pulling her own out from their uniform's skirt pocket. "I drew someone named Soul. I'm already questioning if that's even his real name or just a nickname he might go by."

Tsubaki giggled at her joking, finally finding the crumpled up paper amidst her notebooks and textbooks. "It's not as odd as the name I drew though, Black Star definitely isn't a name I've ever heard anybody go by."

Maka snickered at that, the two reaching the cobblestone pathways that lead back to the main streets outside the school. Maka briefly sighed at the passing of a few grey clouds overhead. "Is it just me or has it lately seemed like every afternoon has been dreary like this?"

"We are in the cooler wet season; it makes sense for the weather to be like this." Tsubaki noted, smiling as a cool wind blew her hair up a bit.

Maka nodded her head, buttoning up her blue blazer. "Still doesn't mean I like it; I can't wait for the weather to warm up here."

"Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow. Text or call me if you get stuck on any of the homework." Tsubaki called out to her, waving goodbye as they turned at different paths for home.

Maka silently waved back, contemplating how she would plan out the rest of her day with class with them having gotten out earlier than normal. A part of her wanted to hang out in Tsubaki's room for the rest of the afternoon rather than head back to an empty apartment, but that would probably only lead to them both goofing off.

'_Mama isn't going to be home until 11 pm at the earliest maybe. Why didn't she just let me board on campus with Tsubaki? Even with the added expenses, it's still better than being alone and bored majority of the time in that rundown building…' _Maka mused, hugging her jacket closer to herself when the wind made her shiver.

But then again, this was the life she had chosen from the get go. When her parents had divorced years ago around the time she was 7 or 8, she had in a heartbeat picked to go with her mother over what she assumed was a deadbeat dad who would always pick random women over her. Her mother was the person she always aspired to be after all, even though she was always busy with her work and assignments across Europe.

The apartment complex was quiet as usual when she returned, only the sounds of a few bikes whizzing by on the streets outside once she entered inside her room.

Maka casually tossed her backpack onto her bed and headed straight for her desk to begin working, briefly noticing a photo of her and her Papa after some lunch outing, more than likely on the weekend or a day after school had ended. Maka smiled slightly at how happy they both appeared in the captured moment, but pouted at the little to no memories she really had of him besides his fiery red hair and goofy grins.

'_Maybe it won't be that way for long though, if this pen-pal place is really where Ms. Marie said it would be.' _ Maka considered, recalling Marie's description where they would be writing to: Death City High in Nevada, the school she was sure her father had mentioned he worked at from past phone calls.

"I wonder if Papa even knows about this assignment, but it's best for now that I don't let Mama know about it. It's already going to be hard enough talking to a guy I've never met before without her questioning me on the reasons." Maka muttered, setting the frame aside to start brainstorming ideas.

~**X**~

"Tell me already!" Black Star griped out, poking Soul's shoulder once more to get his attention.

Soul simply scowled and shoved his hand away, trying to eat his lunch quietly to no avail. "I already told you I don't remember her name."

Black Star only snorted, pointed towards his raggedy backpack. "Then take it out of your bag and show it to me or I won't quit bothering you!"

Soul sighed and reached into his backpack for the folder and tossed it to him. "Here, if it will get you to shut up already."

"Geez, you should be more excited about this. This all-girls school we're apparently writing to for this English assignment have probably never come across guys as great as me!" Black Star explained, tossing old sheets of paper from the folder out onto the ground.

Soul scoffed from beside him at his excitement. "You would get excited about a stupid activity like this."

Black Star didn't respond back, instead murmuring the name of the girl Soul had drawn as he found the scrap of paper. "Maka, Maka, hmm where have I heard that name before?"

Soul yawned in response. '_Why is he so intent on trying to figure out who this random girl is?' _

Black Star continued to focus intently on the name until he snapped his fingers when the memory came back to him. "Oh, now I remember! Ooh, you certainly picked the wrong girl to get caught up with."

Soul arched an eyebrow at that, waiting for Black Star to continue his explanation. "I'm surprised you haven't heard her name before. One of the assistant principals is always bringing her name up, err forgot his name now; the one who you always get in trouble with that wears that same suit like every day."

Soul rolled his eyes as he realized who Black Star was referring to. "Oh, you mean Albarn or something, right? What's his connection to her that makes this so bad?"

"Maka is his daughter, we attended the same kindergarten together before her parents split and she moved with her mom to some country in Europe." Black Star explained with a chuckle.

Soul tapped his fingers against the table thoughtfully before shrugging. "How do you even know this is the same person and not a coincidence?"

"Well, I haven't come across any other girls named Maka and even if it's been years, it's hard to forget her dumb father and her own personality." Black Star mused, frowning when he noticed Soul had stopped paying attention to him midway to eat his lunch again.

Soul gulped down the rest of his soda before crushing the can. "It's not that big of a deal, I'm partially considering not even doing the assignment."

"So you want to fail English and not graduate then; I mean are you even passing the class right now?" Black Star questioned, grinning at the scowl he sent him.

"Black Star, I may hardly ever do my homework, but I know I have a higher grade than you." Soul retorted.

Soul got up to throw away his trash with Black Star following close behind as they headed for their next class. "Are you really not going to attempt to do this pen-pal thing at all?"

"I guess I should do it. I'll only end up screwing myself over if I don't; I just hope his daughter isn't as annoying as _**he**_ is." Soul remarked, pointing out Spirit's flirting with one of their newer female faculty down the hall.

Black Star shook his head at the action, slapping Soul's back cheerfully at his answer. "Good choice Soul! Hey, if you're not careful enough you might actually become attracted to this girl the more you get to know her throughout this semester long project!"

Soul paused midway in his stride, red eyes narrowing at Black Star's teasing. "Do you even remember the name of the girl _**you**_ drew?"

Black Star blinked in confusion, scratching a hand through his blue hair until he scowled. "Err, this isn't about me! Don't try to change the topic!" '_Damn it, what was her name again? I think it started with a T or maybe it was an S…'_

"That's a no then." Soul mused, picking up the pace to get to class again before the warning bell rang.

~**X**~

"Dear Soul, what are American high schools like? Nope, that sounds stupid. Um, what do you do for fun outside of school? Even though I don't give a crap what the answer is…" Maka muttered to herself, deleting the line from the word document with a sigh.

'_It's a good thing Ms. Marie said this could either be handwritten or typed because I would have wasted so many sheets of paper by now if it had to be written.' _Maka pondered, but either way it went; she still hadn't gotten beyond the opening paragraph of the letter and it was already past 10 pm now.

"I wonder if Tsubaki's gotten any farther than me." Maka mumbled, taking a break to call her friend for help.

It only took a few rings before she was greeted with Tsubaki's sleepy voice. "Hey Maka, what's going on for you to call this late?"

Maka bit her lip, feeling guilty for having awakened her friend. "Sorry to be bothering you, I was just wondering if you had any luck with the pen-pal writing."

"I gave up after an hour. It's hard to write to someone you've never met and know nothing about." Tsubaki answered.

Maka giggled at that, relieved she wasn't the only one having trouble with it. "I know! Everything I type out sounds so corny and lame. Maybe we should ask Liz or Kim for help on this; didn't they take this class last semester and end up having the same assignment?"

Tsubaki adjusted her phone as she sat up from her bed. "Oh, that's a good idea! Let's ask them during one of the study hall periods tomorrow."

Maka agreed; setting up a time they could all meet at, wishing her goodnight as she hung up.

'_Guess I don't need to worry about this for now then.'_ Maka reasoned, turning back towards her laptop to shut it down and get ready for bed herself.

Wind faintly tapped against her window as she changed into her pajamas, the overcast from earlier having lingering into the night and would probably stick around for next couple of days. Maka headed back downstairs to double check all the locks, freezing when she saw the knob for the main door turning.

Kami opened the door a few seconds later, regarding Maka curiously when she noticed the defensive stance she was in. "What are you doing up so late; don't you have class in the morning?"

Maka immediately calmed down, moving to give her a hug. "Sorry, sorry I was just heading to bed when you startled me by coming back in!"

Kami lightly returned the hug, smiling at Maka's reaction until she gently pulled back. "Ah, I see. Good that you're staying alert, but I'm not going to be home for long. I only needed to pick up a quick snack before heading back to the office."

Maka resisted the urge to frown, watching as she headed for the kitchen and placed a few small items into a paper bag. It wouldn't look good to childishly request her mother to at least stay for an hour or two, not when she was almost an adult and would be out on her own soon enough.

'_Of course she's heading back to work though; I don't know why I thought tonight would be any different.'_ Maka mused tiredly, unsure what to say as Kami came back out of the kitchen.

"You'll probably be gone for class by the time I return back in the morning, so lock up and take out the trash as you leave." Kami mentioned, putting her snacks into her purse.

Maka slowly nodded her head, studying her mother carefully. "Mama, sometimes I think you-"Maka trailed off when their eyes met; emerald eyes mirroring her own impatiently.

"Think what dear?" Kami asked, already clicking the front door open again.

Maka opened her mouth to speak again, but quickly closed it and put on the best smile she could gather. "Sometimes, I think you work too hard for your own good; I wish you would take it easy."

Kami laughed and nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess I do; I love my work a lot though. It's the same passion you get from reading and writing."

'_But I'm not as obsessed with my passions like you.' _Maka thought, continuing to remain silent as Kami left.

A brief gust of wind hit her as Kami slammed the door close behind her. Maka cursed aloud, unable to say once more what she had truly been feeling.

"Sometimes I think you care more about your work than me." Maka grumbled. It was definitely going to be a long night now trying to get any sleep.

~**X**~

Tsubaki regarded Maka sympathetically in their walk to school the following morning. Maka was only usually silent for this long if it involved her mother in some form or fashion.

"What time did she come in?" Tsubaki inquired, trying to keep Maka from bottling up her emotions.

"It was a little past 10:30pm I think. I swear I sometimes feel like I'm more of just her maid who does the household chores while she's away on some fantastic new journey than her daughter." Maka muttered bitterly.

"Don't take it the wrong way, you know your mom cares about you and wants the best for you." Tsubaki stated comfortingly, causing Maka to smile a bit.

"Yeah, well let's get to class already. I don't want to risk getting a detention just because we were a minute late or something." Maka said, picking up her pace to get to their first class on time.

Morning classes seemed to trail by slower than normal and Maka began to realize how thankful she was for study hall providing a break period in between the switch to afternoon classes after lunch with how difficult last night had been.

"So, what did you need us for? We never thought the two brightest girls in our class would be coming to us for help with schoolwork." Kim mused, sitting across from Tsubaki and Maka.

Liz nodded her head in agreement from beside her, brushing her hair absentmindedly. "I hope it's not a math question because you know that's one of my weaker subjects."

Maka shook her head, grinning at their curious looks. "Tsubaki and I have been stuck on this pen-pal writing thing that we have to do for English. You guys took this class last semester, right? Did Ms. Marie give you guys the same assignment or no?"

Kim gained a thoughtful expression while Liz tapped her forehead to think before speaking up. "Oh, yeah; that was that one assignment where you wrote letters back and forth to somebody in another country, huh?"

Liz began to smile fondly at the memory while Kim scoffed in annoyance. "Ugh, that was a pointless part of our grade."

"You guys seem to have differing opinions on how it turned it out." Tsubaki noted, tapping her pencil against the table with a sigh.

Liz smirked, turning her attention back to the pair. "Oh, don't mind Kim. The project wasn't that bad once you got used to it. I did get to learn about American men after all~!"

Maka rolled her eyes at that while Tsubaki giggled. "Guess we'll have to start with the cliché getting to know each other and move from there."

"Seems like it, I hope he doesn't respond by being an asshole or one of those guys who's only pretending to be friendly just to later turn it all around a be a creep." Maka muttered.

"Your mom has corrupted you with all these negative thoughts of men! An attitude like that would only cause you to fail, unless you don't mind that…" Liz trailed off teasingly.

Maka simply huffed, not rising to her bait. "Of course I would mind that! Geez, I'm not going to screw up my GPA just because of one assignment."

"What's the name of the people you're writing to anyways?" Kim asked curiously, adding in.

"Their names are Soul and Black Star." They said unison, gained puzzled looks from them.

Liz smirked as she rolled the names off. "Hmm, Soul and Maka along with Black Star and Tsubaki? Those have a nice ring to it, don't you think so Kim?"

"It sure does!" Kim stated with a laugh, enjoying the flustered looks that came onto their faces.

Maka scowled, closing her notebook shut as she turned to Tsubaki. "Remind me never to ask these two for help on any future homework we have."

Tsubaki tuned out their snickering, sending Maka a brief nod. "Agreed."

~**X**~

"Alright, I think I'm done with my part. How much have you accomplished?" Soul questioned, glancing away from his paper to check back on Black Star.

"Hold on, I just need to finish this one last sentence." Black Star grumbled, typing away before smiling gleefully.

"She'll be blown away by how amazing I am once she reads this!" Black Star said loudly, causing people nearby to shush him angrily.

"Idiot, did you forget we're in a library?" Soul muttered, jabbing him with a pen to calm him down.

Black Star huffed as he pressed his elbows against the table. "Why did we have to waste a weekend coming here by the way? What was wrong with where we usually work at?"

"We never get any work done when we're at the apartment, don't you think that's why we're always failing things in the first place?" Soul explained tiredly.

Black Star said nothing back for a moment, deciding to play with a few apps on his phone. "Geez, ever since you went to Kid and even Ox Ford of all people for advice on this assignment; you've been acting annoying."

"You're the one who said we might not pass if we don't take this thing seriously, I have to actually try to seem like I care." Soul reasoned.

Black Star chuckled, gazing up from his phone. "Whatcha type out then? How interesting you are in getting to know her?"

Soul ignored his sarcasm and shook his head. "Typical general information, but let me guess though that you went into talking about your 'great' accomplishments?"

"Well obviously, got to let her know that I'm not the typical high school senior!" Black Star explained confidently.

Soul turned around to relook over what he had typed. He had only asked her about her interests and hobbies and what she thought of this project overall. He wasn't expecting Azusa to look over their work in excruciating detail and was probably only going to check to make sure they had reached the minimum length that had to be written.

"I wonder how Maka feels about knowing she's writing to the same school her dad works at." Black Star contemplated.

Soul finished saving his work to his flash drive before replying back. "I figure she probably doesn't care too much if she even knows that fact. It's not like she had a choice in it."

Black Star nodded his head, saving his work as well. "Well, we're finally done with it for now! Ready to be beat by me in some video games?"

Soul grinned in amusement, stretching his legs out as he followed him out of the library. "If that's what you need to tell yourself to think you'll win."

Spirit watched as the pair left, hiding behind a bookshelf as he finished eavesdropping on their conversation.

'_I only came here to drop a book as a favor to Stein, but I'm glad I did. Why of all the people that brat could have drawn did it have to be Maka?! I guess I'll need to look into this pen-pal project a bit more closely now, even if that means contacting Kami again.'_

~**X**~

"He said he likes sleeping and video games. That sounds so boring; how am I supposed to respond to that?" Maka questioned, reading Soul's letter once more.

Tsubaki laughed gently, handing her Black Star's letter to read over. "Well, at least he gave you something to go off. All Black Star did was mainly talk about all these trophies and games he's won in past competitions."

Maka shook her head, only skimming over the letter. "I guess I can't really talk though because he probably thinks the same thing about me liking reading and puzzles. He probably has never attempted any of that."

"Let's not be so quick to judge them Maka; this is only the first letter we're getting from them after all. Maybe we'll learn more about them the more comfortable we get talking to them." Tsubaki speculated.

Maka slowly nodded her head, glancing around the classroom to see her peer's reactions to their first letters. Most of them were grinning or squealing with excitement at the descriptions of places their pen-pals had gone to and their shared interests in many activities.

'_Meanwhile I get the guy who's my polar opposite.' _Maka thought amusingly, broken from her thoughts when Tsubaki tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, it seems like Black Star may have met you before while you were briefly in America. He's mentioning something about your father and how he always talks about you."

Maka wracked her head in memory, only able to faintly recall a guy with blue hair she might've been talking about. The name sounded somewhat familiar, but too many years had gone by for her to honestly know if she was thinking of the same person as the one in her letter.

"Anyways, how do you think I should reply back to this? It would be nice if we had at least one common interest." Maka questioned.

Tsubaki folded her letter back into its envelope before sending Maka a smile. "I'm sure you'll find a way Maka, don't overstress it."

'_I'm not overstressing it; I just want to make sure this doesn't turn into us literally sending like one word sentences to each because that's all we can think of.' _Maka thought, back in her room again after classes had ended for the day.

A brief gust of wind slipped in through the crevice of her open window amidst her pondering, startling her as her papers got tossed in the small flurry, scattering across the floor.

"That's what I get for keeping my window open." Maka grumbled aloud, getting up to properly close it and blinking in surprise when she saw the picture of her and her father had fallen in the midst of it.

Maka stared at it for a moment, briefly recalling how Tsubaki had mentioned her pen-pal knew her from long ago by her dad.

'_I wonder if mine knows anything about my dad too.' _Maka considered. That could be something she could add to her letter to at least make it longer.

"Dear Soul, while I'm not a big fan of video games, I do enjoy watching people play them occasionally since there are so many different types. I think this project to be honest is a bit stupid, but we have to do it to graduate. I think to help make these letters be a bit longer; we should try and find a central topic to talk about though right now I have a question to ask you: is there a man at your school named Spirit Albarn?" Maka read over her letter aloud with a smile, she finally making some progress.

In their next letter, she indeed found out that Soul knew about her father and went into surprisingly detail on how annoying he thought he could be at times.

"Seems like you've found something in common to talk about with Soul, huh?" Tsubaki asked, watching as Maka giggled while reading her letter while they stood outside the gates of the school.

"Ah, it's all these things he says about my dad! He said he was able to trick Papa one time into letting their class out early when he was attempting to substitute for their teacher one day. Unfortunately though, they caught onto him and he got sent to detention." Maka explained.

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow at that, not sure why that was funny. '_I guess she finds it interesting to hear about her father gets teased a bunch.'_

"Anyways, what have you and Black Star been talking about? Is he still full of himself?" Maka questioned, glancing away from her letter.

Tsubaki blushed slightly at the question, causing Maka to smirk curiously. "Well…I guess he isn't as conceited as I originally thought he was. He mentioned how he recently volunteered at this after school sports program for middle and elementary school students."

'_I guess this project wasn't as difficult as we thought it would be.' _Maka realized happily, tucking her letter into her jacket when the wind threatened to pull it from her hands.

"We shouldn't get used to these letters though; I mean we only have about 2 more were going to actually send to them before the school year ends." Tsubaki pointed out.

"True, it was nice getting to know them; I stand corrected by my earlier statements regarding men." Maka mused as Tsubaki shook her head with a laugh as they parted ways once more.

Maka felt an odd chill go down her spine as she approached her home, noting to her surprise that Kami was in the kitchen as she came inside.

'_That's odd; mama never usually gets out of work so early? Maybe she finished the case she was working on faster than expected?'_ Maka pondered, heading up to greet her before she abruptly turned to face her.

"Oh good, you're home. Take a seat Maka; something came up that we need to talk about." She said calmly, gesturing towards the table.

Maka frowned at her tone, but took the seat next to her as she sighed. "Why did your father call me at work all of a sudden?"

Maka blinked in puzzlement before shrugging her shoulders. She hadn't even known her papa still had her phone number in the first place.

Kami scowled, remembering their conversation. "He was going on about some pen-pal project or something where you've been talking to a guy in America?"

"Err; well yeah it's what Ms. Marie assigned to us for English class." Maka explained hastily. '_Did he find out about what Soul's been saying about him in our letters?'_

Kami shook her head, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "Look, I don't want to deal with him trying to call me again over this silly topic. Is there any way you could ask Marie to give you an alternative assignment?"

"It's almost over so I wouldn't want to make her have to come up with something new for me on the spot. Besides, I enjoy reading about the things Soul tells me about…" Maka trailed off. '_At least he's willing to hear about the stuff I have to say.'_

Kami narrowed her eyes at the answer, annoyed expression becoming curious. "Hmm, seems like you've become quite attached to this 'pen-pal' if you ask me."

Maka felt her cheeks redden as she realized what she was implying. "It's not like that! We actually don't really have much in common at all."

"If that's true, then you should have no problems ending the project, but I won't tell you what to do." Kami grumbled, standing up from her seat.

Maka frowned and stood up as well, watching as she headed to her room to grab some files. "Wait, you're heading back to the office again?!"

Kami nodded her head, not sure why Maka sounded so angry. "Of course, I was just waiting for you to get home so I could settle that situation."

"We never spend any time together though! You know, sometimes I wish I was with Papa; at least he wouldn't constantly ignore me!" Maka finally snapped out.

Kami's eyes widened at her outburst, a brief hurt look passing on her face before she huffed. "If you want to go live with that pervert so badly, then move back there after you graduate."

'_Okay, maybe I will.' _Maka thought grouchily, ignoring the tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes as Kami left without another word.

~**X**~

Soul regarded Maka's last letter with a frown. It was much shorter than her previous ones, but she posed an interesting question: what would it be like to go to college in America?

'_Seems like she had a fight with her mom and wants to come here…that would mean I would actually see her in person.' _Soul pondered as he read over the letter to be sure, before Black Star slapped him on his back.

"Hey, looks like you're really deep into that letter you got from Maka!" He questioned suggestively over his shoulder.

"I think she's considering coming here once her school gets out or something to cool off after a fight she had with her mom. No big deal." Soul explained.

Black Star rubbed his chin thoughtfully after hearing the explanation before smirking. "Oh, trying to plan a secret rendezvous together away from her dad's eyes, huh? I would think going to her would be the safer option though."

Soul angrily slapped the back of his head, ignoring the heat coming to his cheeks. "Idiot, it's not like that! Besides, she said the weather is all cloudy and windy right now so she wouldn't want me to come there."

"You guys actually got deep enough into your letters you started talking about that? Geez, what's next did you guys exchange phone numbers and start skyping as well!" Black Star questioned.

Soul rolled his eyes at his questions. "I don't know why you're acting as if you haven't already texted Tsubaki a whole bunch complaining about the time zone differences and how she can't talk when it's still the afternoon here."

Black Star scoffed as Soul began to snicker. "Whatever, as long as you don't go spreading that around too much considering we weren't supposed to do that."

Though he wouldn't admit it out loud, the thought of meeting Maka in person did sound interesting. He had convinced her to at least send one of picture of him so that he had something to go off of if they were to ever to meet in person.

'_She did say she was going to hit me for that one comment I made regarding her figure, but hopefully she's forgotten about that by now.' _Soul mused, smirking as he put the letter back into his bag.

~**X**~

"Are you sure you want to do this Maka? It seems like a hasty decision to leave after one argument and hold a grudge against your mother after all these weeks have passed." Tsubaki asked, observing as Maka tossed some clothes into her luggage.

"There's only been tension between mama and me ever since I told her the truth about how I felt…she hasn't even tried to apologize or better explain herself. I know it seems childish to just run off, but it hurts knowing she isn't trying to make an effort to fix things." Maka mumbled wistfully.

Tsubaki frowned at her dejected state as she continued packing silently. "Well, I'm not going to have you go escape to another country without me!"

Maka paused at her in packing, glancing up in Tsubaki in surprise. "You're going to come with me?!"

Tsubaki nodded her head, holding up a picture of Black Star. "I know we weren't supposed to take this pen-pal thing beyond the end of the semester, but he suggested we meet in person once we were on holiday and I'm sure Soul feels the same way about the idea."

Maka huffed, beginning to blush as she turned back around. "Geez Tsubaki, breaking the rules all for a chance on a long distance relationship with a guy; what has come over you?"

Tsubaki laughed at her joking, sitting down beside her to help her pack. "I could ask you the very same question."

A knock on the door interrupted them and Maka turned with a sigh as she saw her mother leaning against the doorway.

"So, you're serious about going to see that boy and your father after all? I know we haven't been able to spend that much time together lately, but I don't feel like you need to take it this far…" Kami inquired.

Maka frowned slightly before smiling surprisingly. "I want to explore new places just like you did. There's nothing wrong with that, right?"

Kami clicked in her tongue in irritation before shaking her head as she turned to leave. "No, there's nothing wrong with that, but don't let your feelings cloud your mind."

Maka shook her head, reaching to grab her mom's arm before she left. "I won't Mama."

Kami blinked in surprise at the action, shaking her head with a small smile. "If you do see your dad, tell him to only call for _**emergency**_ situations."

'_I hope I'm not making a bad decision by doing this, even though I'm glad Tsubaki decided to come along with me I'm still nervous about meeting Soul in person.' _Maka thought, shuffling alongside Tsubaki as they headed out of their gate towards baggage claim only a week after their conversation back into her room.

"Let's see, they said they would be holding up signs with our names on them, but I don't see them." Tsubaki murmured, glancing around for familiar blue hair before grinning as he saw him waving to her.

"Hey, glad you could make it! Your flight coming here must have been exhausting." Black Star stated, greeting her with a hug as he helped her with her bag.

Maka nearly jumped in fright before relaxing as Soul laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry; I'm not your dad and he doesn't know you're here… yet."

Maka chuckled, following behind Tsubaki and Black Star as they headed to the parking garage. A brief gust of wind hit them as they headed out the doors.

Maka flushed as she quickly pushed her skirt down. "Ugh, I thought I got away from all this wind!" '_Though I am kind of missing the coverage the clouds gave from the heat…'_

Soul chuckled at her embarrassment, earning him a glare. "You might not want to wear anymore white colored things while you're here. It can't get pretty hot in Death City know matter what time of year sometimes."

Maka appeared confused at his statement before blushing as she grabbed a book out of her bag to him. "Pervert, don't look at my panties!"

Soul scowled as he held up his hands in defense. "Don't blame me; it was the wind's fault for blowing your skirt up!"

~x~

_**Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or critiques since I'm always looking to improve my writing and hope you have a good 4**__**th**__** of July and weekend! ~ :-)**_


	7. Earthquakes

A/N: After dealing with stress at work and loss of a loved one, I figured writing something quick and short would help take my mind off things. I've had these buzzing one-shots in my head for a long time so time to release some of it from my head now lol and feel free to hit me up with your own suggestions! ;)

**07 Earthquakes (Manga)**

"You know, you didn't _**have**_ to stay here with me; didn't Black Star want you to play basketball with him after school?" Maka emphasized to her wayward death scythe partner who only yawned in response.

"But you're the one who said we _**have **_to get this project professor Stein gave us done, even if it isn't due for another two more weeks." Soul dryly responded back.

Maka restrained back the urge to roll her eyes, fighting down the snappy comeback bubbling on the tip of her tongue. It was too hot to continue this argument anyways, the air conditioner for the library only providing minimal relief from the blistering midday sun.

And added to that, Death City just had to be having record high temperatures for this particular summer season.

'_If Soul's going to really stay here, then he needs to buckle down and help. This is his grade on the line too!' _Maka considered, not so subtly pushing a book on kishins and attack strategies in his direction.

Soul noticed the action, arching a brow before smirking and pushing it back her way. "It's going to take more than that to get me working Maka."

The rise in heat that pooled in her cheeks only made his grin widen.

'_Oh, I can definitely push this further.' _He realized. Annoying her with his laziness was one thing, but teasing her was a whole new ball game that could ease off his boredom.

"Come on Maka, what's a five minute break going to hurt? We're already more than halfway done with this assignment." Soul drawled on.

"All the more reason to get it over with now then procrastinate…like a certain somebody." She easily countered, though a smile quirked at her lips and goosebumps rose on her skin when he scooted his chair a bit closer.

Soul groaned for a moment as Maka went back to scribbling some notes down, emerald eyes slowly becoming deeply immersed in work and _**not **_on him until he reached out and grabbed her pen to toss it across the room.

Bad choice.

And after the dull throbbing in his head of getting Maka-chopped calmed down, he got up to retrieve said pen, pausing when he saw it's vibrating.

"Uh Maka, did your pen always have some shaking feature with it?" Soul questioned, watching for a moment as the pen continued to slightly rumble against the ground.

"No, what are you talking about?" Maka asked back. She followed his line of direction and felt her lips quirking into a frown as she tried to properly stand.

Her pen wasn't the only thing shaking.

'_What's going on? Everything is starting to tremble…' _The rumbling only became stronger in force beneath them, books beginning to slide off their selves and collapse to the ground below.

"Soul, you don't think this is a…?" Maka began, stepping back from their table towards the middle of the library where he was.

The sound of books crashing and tiles cracking drowned out his response though. A bookshelf began to tip over in their direction and she sucked in a breath as Soul abruptly maneuvered them before everything went black.

-X-

'_Tastes like dust.'_ Soul grunted to himself.

At least he could deal with that on his tongue rather than blood.

"You okay Maka?" He grumbled to his side. They were both currently trapped under a table complete with the rubble of books, files, and other assortments piled atop it.

'_But we're safe; that's the main thing.' _Soul thought in relief with a smile, watching as Maka coughed and attempted to adjust to her surroundings.

"I think a book's edge jabbed me in my side, but other than that I'm alright, you?" Maka asked, rubbing her hand against a growing bruise on her thigh.

She hoped that was the worst injury she sustained.

Soul shrugged, ignoring the sharp twinge of pain at the action. When he had pulled her away from the falling objects, it had resulted in him receiving the brunt end of their force.

He winced at a creeping liquid he could feel sliding down his shoulder to his back.

Maka continued to send him a worried look and he shook his head, helping them both to stand and push the debris off of them.

"This is nothing I can't handle." He remarked when they were out of the wreckage, taking a look around to assess the area.

He wasn't sure how long they had been waiting under that pile for the shaking to stop, but it seemed like quite a while telling by how bad things looked.

Sunlight poured in through the cracks in the windows, illuminating dust, books, and broken wood/tiles twisted in every which way.

"Seems like we're still dealing with some aftershocks too." Maka pointed out, a slower rumble passing underneath their feet.

They both glanced over where they were just minutes ago, their belongings now crushed under the weight of computers and a cabinet that had slid from across the room.

Maka groaned, all that hard work for nothing. Fingers curled around her hand and she turned her head away from the site, nodding towards Soul to guide her away.

"Shit, the exit has been blocked off." He grumbled, not wanting to venture through the broken glass and stands strewn about.

"We'll have to try the emergency exit then." '_Though being on third floor now, who knows how bad the other floors might've been damaged.' _ Maka mentioned warily, eyeing the growing scarlet stain on his back carefully.

Her face heated when he squeezed her hand tighter, pushing her ahead. She could practically hear him saying not to worry or focus on it right now.

They were able to reach a hallway left relatively unscathed minutes later, trying to follow the faint sound of voices only to reach dead ends.

"Hey, do you still have your phone on you? Maybe if the connection didn't go out we can call somebody." Soul suggested.

Her phone's screen was cracked as she dug it out it from her pocket, making an odd scratchy sound as she attempted to call Tsubaki, Liz and even her Papa.

All of them went to voicemail.

Soul grimaced, toothy grin a mix of annoyance and fear. "Well, this could be worse than we thought. There's no way our old man would just _**ignore **_a message from you."

Maka scoffed, almost wanting to toss her phone into one of the open holes in the ground.

"Not helping."

-X-

'_What time is it?' _Maka wondered, resisting the urge to check her phone again for the fourth time.

She needed to conserve what little battery energy she had left, even if she wanted to continue to attempt to read the incoming texts or calls her phone continued to try and come through.

But it was hard not to be antsy when Soul had been relatively quiet since this had all began. Her thigh throbbed at the twist in movement as they turned down another darkened path and she quickly brushed away at the bit of blood beginning to seep onto her skirt once more.

'_He wouldn't have gotten injured like this if I just let him go play basketball with Black Star and Kid and you wouldn't have to hide your own frustrations if you were just more confident of your own feelings.' _Her thoughts taunted before she tuned them out.

Her stomach rolled with the guilt though that she was happy he was hear with her and she didn't have to suffer through this alone.

Selfish.

She was being selfish for wanting him, for wanting more when it didn't seem they were ever going to go beyond this light flirting, teasing, friendship they had going on.

The ground quivered again below them and her heart thumped anxiously at another shockwave coming through, reaching to grab onto the nearest object to keep herself steady.

Which in this case was Soul.

"Geez Maka, how do you handle battles alone when I'm on assignments with Kid if this is how you are for a little quake?" Soul teased.

She purposely poked him in a sore spot. Hard.

"I remind myself not to pretend to act like I'm so cool and mighty." Maka snapped back, grinning at his scowl and curses under his breathe.

She broke away from her grip on him to head downstairs, carefully sidestepping and leaping over cracks and sighing when it lead to another obstruction.

Could she and Soul really be the only ones trapped here still?

Sure it was after school and most of the people in the NOT class and faculty had gone home, but she knew for a fact they were club meetings and groups still going on during the time of the quake occurring.

'_But what if they managed to all get out safely already?' _Another thought pointed out.

"You're overthinking things. Again." Soul noted, patting her shoulders gently and forcing her to turn and face him.

"We've been through way deeper trouble than this. We'll find a way out of here; even if it means escaping through the windows." He went on with a chuckle.

Soul directed them to an empty bench to pause and think, leaning his head back against the wall. He could feel Maka's stare on him on what he wanted to do next and felt his lips tighten in a frown. Sweat began to dampen and mix with the dried blood on his back and he felt Maka eventually begin to sway and lean into him sleepily.

They were going in circles and just tiring themselves out at this point.

Though they could make the most of this situation, he had already seen the way she blushed around him. The underlying double meanings in the jokes and remarks she made…

Feelings left unsaid.

'_Maybe I should just ask her if she…?' _A braver part of his mind hissed, parting her ash blonde hair out of her face and sighing.

"Maka, are you going to fall asleep on me? You can't rest until we get out of here." He instead asked, watching her verdant eyes open and close slowly.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. It hurts…but…but I just want to rest my eyes for a bit." She muttered slowly, hard to decipher as she snuggled closer into his warmth of his jacket between each word.

He shook her awake just as she finished that statement and she fixed him with a sharp glare at his sudden turn in behavior. He at the most had to make sure she got out of the school safely.

Maka shifted again back into him and he again felt the familiar prickle of a blush rising up on him, this time he had to think of a way to _**really**_ keep her from falling asleep.

And himself. Fast.

Her face felt hot underneath the tips of his fingers as he guided her face closer and he saw her eyes momentarily widen in confusion as his lips pressed against hers.

The pain became dull and forgotten for that brief moment.

-X-

"Hey, I think this exit isn't blocked off!" Maka breathed excitedly, almost wanting to race towards the entryway to check.

The earth had upheaved in various parts of the floor revealing the cement below and lights flickered on and off from above in their attempts to move objects out of the way heading down each flight of stairs, but now they had finally come across a relatively clear path with light on the other side.

"Don't be so quick to assume there isn't something that's closed off the sides of it or something." Soul snorted, ignoring scoff she sent him back in return.

Though he didn't miss the glimpse of the smile that crossed her features and pretty blush that came upon her face when he pointed it out.

The dynamics of their relationship had definitely changed.

They combined their efforts to push through the door, light blinding them as a familiar cry pierced the air from the ensemble.

"Maka, Maka! Oh thank God you're safe! Are you injured; I'll call for an ambulance!" Spirit cried out, rushing to her from across the field to check her up and down.

"I'm okay too." Soul added in, getting Spirit's attention off his daughter only for him to mutter a simple that's nice in return.

Asshole.

At least he could find amusement in Maka's mouthed 'help me' which Spirit remained ignorant of, doting over her and calling for Stein and Marie to take a good look at her as well.

Black Star popped in through the crowd, snickering over their dirty uniforms now stained with dust, ink, and blood. "What took you two so long to get out? I know you don't have _**my **_superior strength and power, but still…"

Soul rolled his eyes, jabbing his accusatory fingers away. "I figured I would save my strength and power towards not injuring myself further like an idiot."

"Humph, something tells me you're not giving me the full answer…" Black Star griped about to start another interrogation until Kid luckily pulled him back.

He'd have to answer him before the day was over though. '_Not sure what answer I'm going to give him when that time comes.'_

Liz and Tsubaki meanwhile slinked up to Maka's side once she was alone. Their shared grins a little too big considering the ordeal she had just been put through.

"So…you know you and Soul were alonein there for quite a few hours after that earthquake occurred. And we're pretty sure_** something**_ had to happen in that time considering the rest of us got out relatively easily." Liz began.

"Let me remind you that you weren't on the third floor and the majority of your exits weren't blocked by fallen shelves and other crap." Maka pointed out.

Tsubaki arched a brow, ebony hair swishing as she took a step closer. "So nothing big happened?"

The heat of Soul's lips on hers came to mind. His touch.

Shit, she could feel her face starting to burn all over again.

'_Oh God, I'm not to hear the end of this anytime soon.' _Maka realized at their growing smirks.

But across the way she saw Soul looking at her and couldn't help her own small smile creeping up on her face.

Everything that happened during that period after the earthquake was their secret.

For now.

~x~

_It was nice writing some Soul x Maka, not sure which weather pattern I may do next. Let me know your thoughts!_


	8. Rainy Days- Sunny Days

_Another quick, fun update! I liked the two ideas given for rainy days and sunny days that I decided to merge them into one to better expand the storyline I had in mind. Enjoy! As always, I'm open to any weather ideas you guys got for me!_

**08 Rainy Days/ Sunny Days (Time Traveler AU)**

_**She fell in love with a man from the past, he fell in love with a woman from future. The repercussions of it all cross the boundaries of time…**_

The first time he saw her he wasn't sure if she was real.

After all, bright lights appearing in the middle of the same empty field he passed every morning on the way to school during this dreary rainy/misty period the city was having was an odd site.

The light came and went as fast it had arrived, leaving in its place a young woman around his age to disappear into the falling rain without noticing his stare.

But then he soon saw her again at the coffee shop, sitting alone sipping at some tea with her head deeply lodged in the books piled around her.

'_It's the same girl I saw that day…'_

"Dude, just go talk to her if you're going to stare at her that much. Your eyes are going to fall out at the rate you're going…unless you're not _**cool**_ enough to go do it." Black Star remarked, breaking his focus away from her.

Soul rolled his eyes, turning his attention back towards his friend. It had been his idea in the first place to come to the café on the pretense of doing 'homework', but so far all he had discussed were the latest opponents he had beaten and the new video games he had gotten.

And like always, he'd stop listening around the end of his first story.

"Something's odd about her though, I don't know how to explain it. Like how come we've never seen her at school or at the mall maybe?" Soul questioned. '_She's never around places where they are a lot of people now that I'm thinking about it.'_

Black Star shrugged, clearly not interested in where he was directing the conversation. "Maybe she's been homeschooled her whole life or something? Not a big deal, though you could…I don't know _**ask **_her if you so badly need to find out."

'_Maybe I should.' _Soul considered, tuning out Black Star's teasing that he was finally interested in dating and growing up. He glanced back over to the girl to see if she was still there, indeed still caught up more in her novels then the world around her.

Abruptly though, she closed the current book in her hands and shifted the rest of the books away from her hurriedly back into her bag. Jade eyes caught his for a moment before looking away in the opposite direction, pigtails swooshing with the motion.

"I'll let you work your magic on her lover boy; see you at school tomorrow!" Black Star taunted, already standing up with umbrella overhead as he moved out from under the protection of the patio.

Soul furrowed a brow, almost ready to get up to stop him. "What happened to studying and our assignments?"

Black Star waved him off, yawning absentmindedly. "Oh, Tsubaki can help me with all that! Hey, pretty soon we might be even able to have study dates in the near future if you really do take my great advice for once."

Moron was probably going to cheat off of her or procrastinate until tomorrow morning before class in reality.

Rain continued to steadily fall as he watched him go, drops sliding off the canopy and into the grass and pavement below. A cover of grey clouds had been blanketing the city with off and on rain showers every day for weeks now.

The sun rarely peaked its head out only around sunset these days.

'_It was raining like this when I first saw her though.' _Soul realized, scratching his head on what to do next.

How do you start a conversation with a stranger you've been watching from afar on who they are and why they appeared out of a strange light?

Soul looked back over to her again and noticed this time she was truly ready to leave as well, paying for her meal and gathering up her belongings to walk off.

'_Shit, I may lose this chance if I don't try now.'_

"Ah, hey hold on one of your books fell down under the table." He called out to her, and his stomach tightened upon getting a closer look at her as she followed his line of sight.

Her smile made him nervous.

"Thanks, I would've been in a lot of trouble if I misplaced any of these." She mused as she hastily picked it up. He barely read over the title 'Flash-forward' before it went out of sight into her backpack, watching as she clasped the straps a bit tighter and scuffled at her boots.

And then he just _**had **_to promptly put his foot in his mouth by saying reading so much made her nerdy.

"…How would you know I read so much Soul if you hadn't been watching me every time I'm here?" She countered sharply, gearing up to hit him with probably the largest book in her bag.

Soul gulped, reddening until he took in what she said. "You know my name?"

She paused for a moment, eyes briefly going wide as she realized her mistake before shaking it off. "Only because I heard that friend of yours loudly saying it. Mine is Maka since I know you're going to ask."

Soul followed after her back onto the streets, the pattering of the rain the only noise between them until he found his words once more and grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Hold on Maka, how come I never see you in any other places around the city? If you know I've been watching you, surely I would think you try to keep out of my site or at least question me on why." He brought up.

Maka stiffened and he couldn't help the edges of a smirk coming onto his face at her slight flustering. "I knew it was a matter of time before you would just end up stopping me and asking me for questions. So what exactly do you want to know from me?

There were multiple things he wanted to ask her since her appearance at that field. She looked to be around his age, but as far as he knew he had never seen her parents or at school? Where did she come from and why?

He opted to go with asking the last thought out question that came to him.

Maka smiled forlornly, seeming to gaze far off into the shroud of mist over the mountains surrounding Death City.

"I-I'm not from around here and you wouldn't believe me on the why I'm here…" She sighed.

Soul arched a brow, tightening his grip on her hand before she attempted to escape. '_Not this time.'_

"Try me."

-X-

"Really, all you got out of her was that her name is Maka?! I'm going to have to teach you better ways to flirt." Black Star griped to him the next morning during second period.

'_What, so I can get hit and called every last insult possible?' _Soul wondered, the only person who could tolerate his so called 'flirting' as far as he knew was Tsubaki.

"You said she wouldn't go into details on where she came from? I wonder if she maybe ran away from home." Kid suggested from next to him.

"She could be shy, though I know it's a cliché to think all bookish people are like that. She'll open up if you can manage to get her to hang around us!" Liz offered.

'_She's far from shy…' _Soul internally griped, reminded of the growing bruise at the back of his head as punishment for preventing her from leaving so quickly yesterday.

Though he just nodded along as his friends continued to spill out ideas, keeping his expression neutral to keep Maka's true secrets hidden. She made a good point, her secrets would be hard for anyone to believe.

But he trusted what she said.

'_I know it sounds crazy, but I'm from the future; 10 years to be precise. I'm investigated into the theories surrounding time travel and took the time watch without permission, but I couldn't take it anymore! People were getting injured because of me…because of the abilities I can do with my eyes…' _Her words echoed in the back of his mind.

He had hushed and calmed her down saying that she didn't need to worry, but he soon realized her presence here in this timeline could affect her own in a big or small way with everything she did.

Especially when they both nearly crossed paths with her 5 year old self during one of their excursions to the market.

They had slipped out of her younger selves view just as her parents came out and he grimaced at Maka's gloomy expression watching an innocent version of herself play in the puddles of rain along the sidewalk until she got shooed along and scolded to stop.

In the end she had said it would be best for him to stay away to not create any time paradoxes or some crap (he started getting lost in her detailed explanations), to pretend he never saw her appear in that flash of light and that it had just been a trick on his vision.

Though he had never been good at following rules people gave him.

Because no matter how much she whined or complained about him, he still found himself spending his evenings after school checking to make sure she had food, water, and other basic necessities to stay sane while she was in this time.

'_It's a better excuse than admitting how I'm starting to feel.' _His thoughts teased.

"Why do you keep coming here? In fact, how did you even know I was here?" Maka commented at one point when she seemed fed up with him again. They were holed up in the corner of a rundown apartment she had found rather easily.

Soul smirked at her clear frustration, it wasn't like it would be hard to figure out the cheapest living spaces in the city and cross them off one by one.

Drops of water fell in every section of the room, the musty scent of the room mixing with the ongoing rain falling outside.

"It never rained this much in Death City as far as I know. Even our wettest months never saw this much rain. Makes me long for that sun I used to complain about so much." Maka joked, pressing her head against the window.

He stared at her reflection for a moment before striding over a bit closer to her. She squeaked as he pulled her into his lap and nearly fought out of his hold before grunting and giving up.

"Don't you think when you made the decision to go back in time that it was a bit hasty? I mean, you're family and friends are probably worried as hell about you." Soul mumbled by her ear.

He knew he was heading into a touchy subject, but Maka _**had**_ been here for over a month now. When she had mentioned it was due to the fact the time watch was broken, he had suggested taking it to Professor Stein or somebody with high enough intelligence to work on it to which she disagreed.

Maybe she just couldn't admit yet she wasn't ready to go back.

"Of course Papa is worried about me I'm sure; I only left a letter saying I was go into hiding for a little while, not telling him where or when I would be back and I told my friends I was going to visit my mom." Maka explained.

"And I-"She hesitated, before continuing on seeing Soul's nod.

"…I can't help it but want to stay here longer. When we saw my 5 year old self for that brief minute by the store weeks ago, I got so nostalgic that it started to cloud my reasoning. At this time, my parents aren't divorced yet and I didn't have the weight of this knowledge that my ability to see people's souls would cause so much pain and turmoil." Maka went on.

Her face notably heated at Soul's caring gaze. A gaze he would never give her again once she went back to her time.

"I wish you would stop coming to visit and check up on me; I can take care of myself you know. After all, in my time you're 25 and I'm 15." She murmured.

Soul blinked, shoulders sagging before he perked up. "So what you're telling me is, I need to wait about 13 years or so before I can continue holding you like this?"

He emphasized his message by wrapping an arm around her tighter.

"Yes! No one cares here because we're the same age right now when really we're not! We haven't even met directly in person except for the time I heard you play the piano after school." Maka recalled.

'_She's heard me play?' _He winced, even his close friends hadn't heard him play a note in years.

Maka felt his stiffening and gave him a small smile in encouragement. "Don't worry, I didn't think it was creepy at all like those other preppy girls nearby thought. But I never got to tell you it until now I suppose."

"Um, thanks I guess? Do you still think of me as some creepy old loner guy now or no?" He teased, remembering how she said he never seemed to smile. Or have friends.

She really hadn't known anything about him in her timeline.

"Geez, I said it was just a nickname I had for you and no, you're not like any of the nasty rumors people say or the first thoughts I had of you." Maka breathed, wrapping her arms around him.

Soul leaned in closer, lips pressing against hers and she moaned gently as each kiss made a searing heat coil in her stomach.

When he pulled back and saw the desire in her eyes and shifted them over towards the makeshift coach.

"Can I?" He asked against the crevice of her neck, fingers threading underneath her shirt and upwards to her bra. Her own hands had moved forward to steadily unbutton his uniform.

"Yeah." She admitted softly.

-X-

'_It stings…' _Maka thought to herself, trying to ignore the ache settling between her thighs. The sound of light snores next to her made her relax, settling into Soul's side.

'_It's not raining anymore.' _She noticed, the stains where water had fallen through the tiny holes in the roof beginning to dry. Sunlight poured in through the window and she smiled until she felt it.

Somebody was watching her. Them.

Her heart quickened into a gallop as she sat up in alarm. Soul yawned and watched her sleepily at her odd behavior, frowning when she moved out of reach and towards the window.

"What's got you so frazzled?" He questioned.

Maka pursed her lips silently, intensely gazing around every corner, building, and alleyway. "I've…I've been tracked. Somebody followed me here, I have to go back."

'_This sense I'm picking up, this unmistakably has to be __**him**_. _How could he have gotten here; did he secretly follow me in?!_'

Justin Law.

Soul frowned, observing her guarded expression as she hurriedly moved out of his shirt and back into her own clothes. "How can you go back to your time if your watch thing is still broken? Aren't you rushing this considering you merely just took a small peek out the window?"

Maka paused in her changing, face becoming sheepish. "Ah, I fixed it on my own after reading through all those books you always saw I had on me. Anyways, we have to get moving; now."

'_He's not going to stop until he's killed me like he's been ordered to, but I refuse to let him endanger any of the people in this or my time anymore.' _She considered resolutely, staring down at her time watch.

The hands of the clock ticked slowly in standby for her command.

Soul startled her by coming up behind her to pat her shoulders and she gave him a weak smile in return before gathering up the rest of her belongings.

"If this guy has been a crazy stalker or something to you, then we should both work together to take him on." He suggested.

Maka shook her head, tightening her fists into a ball. "No, he's my problem alone to handle. I can take him on with the weapons I have in the future. But we need to get going before he does any damage here."

Though coming from her that sounded so hypocritical, she too after all over these period of weeks had been affecting time by meeting Soul's friends and now becoming intimate with him.

Her chest knotted at the thought he would forget her and all of this with the passing of the years until they possibly met again.

'_Never mind, all of that isn't important right now.' _She berated herself, pushing the thoughts away as they weaved through the streets and came upon a clearing.

The same area she fell into when she first used the time watch.

She could feel Justin watching them from the shadows and fought down a shiver, silently grasping at the blade within her pocket should she need it.

'_Don't come closer, at least…at least let me say goodbye to Soul before you try to attack me.' _She thought, sending him a warning glance.

She had the power to screw up _**both **_their lives if he made any sneaky moves.

Sunlight glistened against the fresh dew across the field and Maka felt her nerves relax slightly as she breathed in the scent.

"Soul, I know I'm leaving abruptly but I-"Maka began, interrupted when she felt the warmth of Soul's lips once more.

"We'll meet again. Look, you've taken the rain away and brought the sun back. You made my life for the short time you were in it happier." Soul related, brushing a hand through her hair.

He almost followed after her as she activated her watch and a bright glow enveloped her again, his chest lurching at having to hold back as a figure leapt in with her and she slashed towards him before everything went white.

Soul watched as the sun passed over the spot of grass where she once stood before sighing and turning away.

Black Star of course griped to him the next day over why she never said goodbye to any of them, complaints getting drowned out as usual while he stared overhead.

'_It's going to be another hot day.'_

-X-

"Maka, are you listening to me?! It was dangerous to time travel like that without permission! While it's good you were able to subdue Justin without getting any serious injury; you should've have come to me first if you knew he had been following you around so much!" Spirit lectured.

Maka simply hummed her agreement, the throbbing in her arms and stomach a reminder of said incidents.

'_Seems like yesterday it all happened.' _Maka daydreamed, a glimpse of white hair passing around the corner of the hall making her lean away from the table.

"No way, he's really here again?" She whispered.

"And another thing, Stein mentioned you were awfully chummy with that newly hired music intern that I _**must **_remind you is only here for a few weeks and wayyytoo old for you! I know now that you're a teenager, hormones might start affecting you, but as your Papa I don't want you to become a statistic or-"Spirit rambled on, not noticing Maka had already walked down the corridor.

'_Hold those thoughts Papa, I need to check this out!' _Sure enough, she saw white hair coming into view again, lighted perfectly by the angle of the sun as scarlet eyes turned towards her.

She gulped, fidgeting at his blank expression until a ghost of a smile passed through his features. "Well, are you going to just stand there drooling over me or say something, huh _**Maka**_?"

Maka blinked, flustered and surprised at his cocky attitude. That hadn't changed over the years, he was just taller now and more attractive.

And oh the way he said her name…

But she quickly snapped out it, that's the first thing this ass says to her after all these years?! Not a 'how are you?' or a 'let's go out and catch up with how sunny and nice out it is today?'

"Well Mr. Evans, it seems we meet again."

~x~


	9. Fog

**09: Fog (Manga)**

'_Come on, come on! Please say it'll clear up!' _Maka yelled to herself as the news approached its forecast section.

No such luck.

The fog was indeed here to stay until the morning.

She peered out her window in an effort to see beyond the dense mist, only able to make out the faint glows of the streetlights in the dark.

'_I guess there's no reason to worry though, Soul's traveled home in worse weather than this.' _She reminded herself.

"Waiting for a certain _**somebody**_ to come home, Maka?" Liz asked over her shoulder, rolling her tongue to emphasis what they both already knew until she was sure she caught her shoulders stiffen and noticed her cheeks growing hot.

Great.

It wasn't like it was a bad thing if Soul ended up being late coming back from Kid's. It was her turn to host girl's night at the apartment with the usual fun of games, secrets, movie-watching and she was lucky enough to have been able to shoo him away so he didn't have to hear all of…

'_This teasing over us.' _Maka griped internally.

Tsubaki at least sent her a sympathetic smile (albeit not a very convincing one from her perspective) and popped a soda to distract Liz before her sister joined in for the taunting.

"Liz, I thought you were going to tell us about that latest gossip Kim mentioned to you the other day?" She questioned.

And as they both expected, Liz glanced away from her direction and gleefully retold them of what Kim had overhead students from the NOT class discussing.

Saved from embarrassment…for now at least.

With the fog not going anywhere, it was highly possible Liz and the others would be stuck here all night if not until morning. And while she didn't want Soul to attempt to travel back home with his view being heavily obscured, she knew telling by his earlier text that he was already planning to leave Kid's house within the next hour.

"Hey, I'm getting bored! We've already gone through two movies and all of the popcorn and ice cream; we need to spice up this night!" Patty chimed eagerly.

Maka winced, anything Patty ever wanted to _**spice**_ up always seemed to go…awry.

'_My stomach's starting to cramp up too…I don't know if it's from eating all this junk food or because Tom is coming to visit me.' _She noted.

Tsubaki nudged her slightly in concern and she immediately attempted to brighten, not wanting to cause her any worry.

"It's just Tom." She mouthed and she smiled, nodding in understanding.

Liz arched a brow from across the room, rocking on her elbows to lean forward. "And what are you two whispering about? Soul and Black Star's latest antics?"

Maka huffed, pouting out her cheeks despite her flustering. "No! If you must know we were discussing Tom!"

Liz blinked, before grinning understandingly. "Oh, well you could've mentioned that earlier! I wouldn't have goaded you into drinking all that fizzy stuff if you said he was coming."

Maka shifted, twirling her ash blonde hair through her fingers. "Truth be told, I forgot to check my calendar to remember he was coming."

Patty snickered, pointing out it was unusual for her to forget something like this and the air of awkwardness gave way to more giggles and snickering as they brought up stories involving Tom.

Across the room though, the sound of the door clicked open as Soul walked on, scarlet eyes narrowing as he caught brief pieces of their conversation.

'_Who's Tom?'_

**-X-**

Maybe he should've stayed at Kid's a bit longer.

After all, the last thing he had expected was to walk in on Maka and the rest of the girls discussing who knows _**what**_.

And Maka had seemed to believe he was going to try and wait it out for the fog to clear, but he had assured her using the strongest beams on his motorcycle would allow him to past through.

He was sleepy now from taking his time for once to get home, the fog making for an eerie trip that had blocked out the trees and buildings he always passed on the way home.

'_I bet you'll catch the girls discussing how great I am if you leave now! Or perhaps Maka mentioning something about you…' _Black Star had pointed out and he scowled, wishing he had retorted back that Tsubaki was the only one who ever gave him non-sarcastic compliments.

But clearly Maka wasn't discussing him.

And it was annoying him he hadn't _**ever **_heard her mention this guy.

He tiptoed back into the shadows by his bedroom, crouching down to avoid being seen in case any of them looked over in his direction.

"How do you guys deal with Tom since we all live with guys? I mean it's hard to stay calm when he comes and Soul is around…" Maka trailed off.

"Have you tried doing those stretching exercises I told you about or using those herbal teas? That always helps me; it's also good that I normally do the laundry early so Black Star never sees any of the effects from overnight." Tsubaki replied.

'_What? This Tom guy not only visits Maka, but all of them?' _Soul thought.

He pulled out his phone and lowered the glow of the phone's light before scrolling to Black Star's name.

"_**Do you know anybody at school or anyone around our age by the name of Tom?" **_He texted.

It didn't take him long for his phone to lightly buzz his response.

"_**Huh? What the hell are you talking about?! Is Maka going after a guy named Tom or something?" **_

Soul gritted his teeth, ignoring the slight heat coming onto his face as his quickly typed back.

"_**No, idiot! I'm back at my place and Maka along with TSUBAKI are mentioned this guy." **_

He waited a good couple of minutes for his response, frowning when he heard a faint thump coming from the ceiling.

'_He didn't actually_-'

And of course, the girls heard it as well.

"What was that? It's not starting to rain; is it?! The forecast only said dense fog into the mid-morning hours, right?" Liz asked, sitting up from her position on the couch.

Patty giggled, expression becoming dark. "Who said it has to be rain? Maybe it's something a bit more otherworldly…"

Liz shivered, wrapping a blanket around herself. "Stop it, sis! You know I hate when you bring up ghosts and whatnot! Especially with a night like this."

Soul meanwhile crept over to his window, cracking it open just enough to peer out and overhead. Sure enough even with the fog covering up some of his features, Black Star was staring back at him.

"What's this crap you're mentioning about Tsubaki having some Tom guy visit her?!" He snapped.

Soul rolled his eyes, silently putting a finger to his lips to tell him to shut up as he maneuvered over into his room beside him.

"Moron, why the hell did you use the roof to cause a commotion?! You're freaking them out now and I still don't know the full details." Soul griped.

Black Star scoffed, running a hand through his cobalt hair. "Well, I had to get here as fast as possible and it's easier to see past the fog by roof-hopping using my stealth skills! Of course though, I can't expect someone like you to understand things like love and relationships when you're blind to your own feelings and Maka's! Anyways, now that _**I'm **_here I'll get to the bottom of this!"

Soul decided to ignore the first parts of his comment, holding him back by his collar. "You can't keep quiet for shit. Now, stay low with me so we can both hear them talk again."

**-X-**

'_I hope this works.' _Maka hummed, watching as the water came to a boil before she set it aside to cool before she put the tea bag in.

Every step, her stomach tinged with pain, shooting waves of the effect around her back and down her body like a shockwave.

"Ouch, stupid Tom." She hissed under her breathe, opening the cabinets to find the nearest Tylenol or pain medication to kill the tight sensation.

"Need some help in here?" Tsubaki asked over her shoulder and she nodded gratefully, popping down two tablets while Tsubaki added sugar and cream for her tea to help gulp the medicine down.

They both returned over to table, not surprised to see Liz dazedly trying to keep her eyes open with Patty already knocked out.

"Thanks, can't believe it's almost close to 2:30 am now." Liz noted, accepting the tea Maka handed her while staring at the clock across the room.

She lazily yawned and set her glass on living room counter once it was finished, falling back onto the air mattress as her breathe slowly evened out.

"Think you'll be able to get any sleep with Tom's presence?" Tsubaki joked lightly, stirring at her cup slowly as they watched the sisters sleep.

Maka shrugged, rubbing her stomach slowly as she felt the gurgling die down a bit. "Yeah, once this kicks into my system I'll be good. I remember this one time Soul asked why I was just staying holed up in my room all day and I said I was waiting for Tom to leave. I don't think he understood or heard me properly."

'_And I still don't apparently.' _Soul considered in frustration, Black Star equally confused from beside him.

"I don't get it dude, they're both giggling and talking about someone who's not even there…perhaps this is just some inside joke were not supposed to get." Black Star complained.

For once, it seemed like he was right.

It wasn't like they were going to any more clues into exactly who or what Tom was anyways…Maka and Tsubaki falling asleep shortly afterwards as well. Black Star climbed back out his window, promising he would he would solve this 'Tom' mystery before he did by morning.

He sighed, watching as Maka slept out of them all, the most haphazardly. Clearly the pain medicine not fully killing her pain just yet. Hair strewn over her face in the midst of her tossing and before he could consider the repercussions, he brushed it out of her face.

And jade green eyes sleepily opened soon after said action.

"Soul?" She whispered, eyes seeming to sharpen as she sat up from the couch.

'_Shit.'_

**-X-**

"You didn't have to hit me so hard." He remarked bitterly, nursing the bumps on his head with a scowl.

Maka hmped, paying no mind to his grumbling as she set out another plate of eggs. It was morning now and they were the only two up in apartment even with the few hours of sleeping they had both gotten. "Well, how else was I supposed to react when I see a figure hovering over me in the darkness, huh?! You've could've been a burglar for all I knew if I hadn't taken the necessary precautions."

Soul bit his tongue to refrain from stating she _**still **_hit him even after she realized it was indeed him.

"Besides, you deserved my Maka-chops after you decided to come in without telling anyone and listen in on our conversations! We don't peep in on your guy's night or whatever!" She mentioned. '_Except for that one time I was dared to do it…but how much did he hear anyways?'_

Soul shrugged, mind whirling back to said discussions he had heard. The name Tom continued to pop into most of them.

"So, who's Tom?" He eventually asked.

Maka blinked, nearly dropping the spatula from her hands. "E-Eh, why do you ask?"

Soul arched a brow, slightly amused by her reaction. He took the opportunity to lean forward into her, blocking her escape as he pinned her into a corner of the kitchen.

"I don't know, you tell me who _**he**_ is?"

Maka reddened at his agitated tone, they were close enough she could hear his breathing, pick up on the scent of his faint shampoo, and her stomach tightened this time in nervousness.

"Wait a minute, Tom's not a guy…well we just refer to it as a 'he' because of how annoying _**IT **_is!" She realized, gathering herself and pushing him back slightly.

Soul scoffed, clearly unfazed by her answer, especially when she started to smirk. "Oh my goodness, you thought…you thought Tom was a guy; didn't you?!"

'_This isn't how I imagined this conversation was going to go.' _Soul pondered, not sure what to say.

"Soul, you idiot! T.O.M. is an acronym. It means Time Of Month. Geez, getting jealous over nothing…" Maka muttered.

They stared at each other silently until she saw it click in Soul's expression and he smacked himself. "Damnit, that mean's all this time…" '_I'm not sure how I'm going to explain this to Black Star, hell do I even __**want **__to explain this to him?'_

"Yes." Maka finished for him, looking away from him to outside.

Good, the fog was clearing up faster than expected. Morning light streaming across the mountains nearby and buildings giving off a small orange and yellow hue with the fading darkness and moonlight.

A wolf whistle cut through her observing and she instantly felt her skin start to prickle.

'_Oh no…'_

Because how could she forget across the room Liz, Tsubaki, and Patty were watching with merriment how close she and Soul currently were?

"Hmm, I thought I smelled breakfast, but I didn't know I was going to be getting a _**show**_ with it as well!" Liz teased, enjoying far too much watching Soul and Maka scramble away from each other.

"You know, the fog has cleared up, you and Patty can head back to Gallows Manor now." Maka brought up.

Liz shook her head, brushing her blonde hair back using her fingers. "Ah, that's good. Though it would be a waste not to enjoy breakfast with you lovebirds first!"

And of course remarks like that would go on for the next painful hour or so until Maka not so subtly this time told them all to leave.

"Ugh, I'm not going to hear the end of this for a long time or at the next girl's night!" Maka complained, bumping Soul purposely while they washed up the dishes.

"I just wanted to know who Tom was." Soul muttered, drying another plate until he felt something warm against his cheek.

He turned just in time to briefly see Maka pull her lips back and he paused, reaching back to pull her closer again.

Maka smiled against the curve of his lips, voice light and airy.

"You know, I won't let you live this Tom thing down, but at least know that Tom can't ever compete with Soul."

-x-

_**A/N: **__Wrote this story based on a memory I had from middle school with my friends. They referred to their monthly cycle as Tom and I actually thought they were talking about some random guy in our class I had never met until they told me it was an acronym. Lol, hope it brought a smile to your faces!_

_As always, thanks for reading. Let me know if you have any suggestions on the next weather one-shot you want so see! ;)_


	10. Wildfires

**10: Wildfires (Manga)**

"The damage isn't permanent, she'll just need to get plenty of rest." Stein noted, flipping through some papers and notes.

Soul said nothing for a moment, scarlet eyes wavering between him and Maka who remained asleep.

Fists clenched against the white sheets of the hospital bed, images of the last few hours coming to mind. The scent of blood. Burning flesh.

'_We have to get rid of these arsonists Soul; the fire is going to spread towards the city if we don't put an end to them trying to make the wildfires even bigger.' _

'_Don't worry about me, I've handled plenty of things worse than this while you were away with Kid on some mission…'_

"But Professor Stein, you said that she might-"He began, swallowing when he found he couldn't finish.

Just the idea of saying it could make it become true.

Stein patted his shoulder, a weak effort at comforting him in his opinion. "Like I said before, none of the injuries are permanent. But like any harm done to the body, it will take time to _**heal**_. I'm going to go check on Spirit now before he drinks himself into a drunken stupor over this."

He did another sweeping check on her vitals and a quick head to toe assessment before he truly left, only realizing that he was gone from the room when he heard the soft click of the door close. Night would be approaching soon telling by the fading red hues on the horizon.

Perhaps he should start heading home too.

Absently, his phone buzzed again from his pocket, missed calls and texts from Spartoi concerning Maka's case and his own wellbeing.

He sighed, ignoring it as he reached for Maka's bandaged hand. The action briefly made her fingers flicker in response, jade eyes opening dazedly.

"Hey, you're finally up. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Soul spoke up.

Maka stared fixedly at him, shifting from him towards the bed, the room, and finally outside.

And then she tried to speak.

A hoarse cough escaped her cracked lips, making her lean forward in gasps to catch her breathe in fright. '_What just happened?"_

She sent Soul a look of panic, afraid to try and talk again and unleash another wave of coughing. Soul squeezed her hand gently, shaking his head with a sigh.

In silence, he reached over for his backpack and took out the notepad and board Spirit had given to him. Their shared conversation came to mind from just hours ago.

'_Please let her use this and the dry erase board for the time being.' Spirit grumbled, forcing the objects into his hands._

"_Why not just stay and give them to her yourself?" Soul asked back._

_Spirit shook his head, nervously scratching a hand through his now messy hair. "No, no my presence would only overwhelm her. I know she would want to see you first when she wakes up."_

_He wanted to disagree and question just what he was implying of their relationship, but he shakily reached for a cigarette from the depths of his pocket and headed towards the balcony outside._

Maka stared at the notepad and pencil in confusion, tugging on Soul's shoulder to explain.

"Try not to talk Maka, your vocal cords have been damaged."

-**X-**

'_What?'_

It felt like she was still in the fire hearing that, smoke burning her lungs and eyes, pitch blackness surrounding them on all sides as the flames seemed to roar with life.

"Maka, don't cry. Professor Stein said the damage wasn't enough for it to be everlasting. Once your body gets some rest surgery can be done to remove the excess scar tissue." Soul stated, brushing the drops away.

Maka blinked, indeed feeling the sensation of saltiness land on her lips. How long had she been out? It already seemed like it was nighttime and she was sure they had gone out to take care of the fire bombers early in the morning.

Before even sunrise.

Her throat tightened up again while her stomach clenched. Nausea and numbness quickly raced through her as went pale.

"I feel sick." She wrote on the pad before she felt a rush of bile coming up.

Soul reached for a bucket frantically just in time though before any of it landed on him.

Well almost…

Maka peered downward, face burning. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Soul scrubbed a greenish slime off his shirt in the bathroom.

'_I'm so disgusting, this is so embarrassing!' _Her thoughts screamed.

When Soul was gone on his death weapon missions, she had done so much training and studying of her own. There were plenty of solo missions to keep her mind and body busy from becoming bored or lonely.

And now when they were finally together again for a mission not only did she get badly injured, she ended up throwing up on him!

'_I hate this…'_

"Is it all out of your system now?" Soul questioned, startling her out of her thoughts.

She sent him a meek nod in response, shuffling at the now blue sheets Soul had helped rush her to change. It would be so easy to just bury herself under these to avoid looking at him.

"Sorry, I threw up on you. You should just head on back to the apartment and get some sleep. And better clean clothes." She wrote out.

Soul read it over before chuckling and shaking his head. "Nah, I'm okay and besides, you would be here alone if I did that."

Maka shrugged, wishing she could voice she had been alone plenty of times already. She had already made enemies and endangered herself many times before considering they were both still in their teenage years.

But her heart thumped with elation knowing he wanted to stay, even if the room now smelt heavily of cleaning alcohol and medicines.

Soul brushed a hand through her hair, smirking when she leaned into his touch. He could briefly forget while holding her and listening to her even breathing that they were here in this situation.

"_I'm not going to let you take the brunt of his attack Soul! You already been injured one too many times because of me! Let me be the one who gets hurt for you this time…"_

"_Maka, don't be stupid! I'll always protect you because I love-"But his voice got swallowed up by the flames as Maka broke away from his grip._

He frowned, staring down at Maka's sleeping form once more.

"I wonder if you heard back there." He muttered.

-**X-**

"Ugh, it's so hot in this room Soul! I mean we're in the middle of a drought right now, at least use the air conditioning!" Black Star griped.

He had expected and partially hoped Kid would've been the first one to visit.

Of course nothing ever seems to go the way he wants it too…

Black Star flipped on the television, the noise startling Maka awake with a clear annoyed look. Black Star paid it no mind, striding over to the opposite of the bed.

"What? Thought you could get away with sleeping away all day again?! Nope, your best and greatest old friend Black Star came to visit you on this new bright and sunny day; you should be grateful!" He cheered.

Maka responded by jabbing her pencil into his arm.

While Black Star cursed her rudeness, Maka sent Soul a pointed expression. She didn't even need to write out what was running through her mind.

Why was Black Star here?

Soul shrugged, not wanting to be on the receiving end of her upset next. "I can't help it if news spreads. He would found _**some**_ way to break in; be glad he used to front door like a regular person."

Maka rolled her eyes, turning her attention to the news. Updates on usual morose topics of world went by until it finally came to the weather segment.

And she breathed a small sigh of relief that most of the fires had been contained within the region. They were still in drought period yes, but the heatwave seemed like it would at least come to an end temporarily with the good chances for rain later on in the week.

'_The arsonists who ignored the outdoor burn bans seem to be gone as well or jailed.' _She noticed, as the news moved on the sports section.

"Oh yeah, Tsubaki and the others are going to be stopping by soon with lunch in a few hours, so Soul you can unglue yourself from Maka and go home." Black Star mused.

Black Star looked a bit far _**too **_pleased having said that.

Maka peered between the two, trying not to fluster at Black Star's teasing and ignore that it seemed to be making Soul feel the same.

But in the end he followed his advice and gathering his belongings to go, promising he'd be back by evening as long as she had company.

Black Star leaned his hand against his palm, expression becoming serious as he studied her bandages. Nygus had been by earlier to change them and though she hadn't shown it, the pain of the dressing changes throbbed like the heat was still there. '_Take slow breathes Maka, I know it hurts…'_

He met her eyes and she frowned at his darkened look until he finally spoke. "Is it true…I mean that your voice is really that badly damaged that you can't talk? I know I overheard Spirit and Stein saying you were going to have surgery like next Thursday or something, but I wanted to know from you to be sure."

Maka sighed, the familiar narrowing closing up her throat. It was hard to see and hear someone like Black Star who normally remained goofy and full of confidence sound nervous.

Nonetheless, she slowly reached for her board to give him an answer.

"Yes, what you heard is true."

-**X-**

"Ah, finally managed to get Soul to leave your side, huh? Or maybe Black Star told him we were coming." Liz hummed, smirking as Maka paused midway in biting her sandwich.

"Liz, don't make her choke on her food by teasing her like that." Tsubaki motioned, giving Maka a glass of water.

'_At least somebody's on my side here…I think.' _Maka thought, enjoying the cool sensation of the drink washing down her throat.

Because it wasn't like Tsubaki had tried to deny any of these claims Liz was making.

But she could disregard that for now considering they had brought her food and anything was better than continuing to eat the clear liquid and soft diet she had been on since being admitted to the hospital.

"Anyways, sis brought all her makeup and beauty supplies from the manor here. She wanted to cut all those burnt ends off! And I brought you some coloring books to de-stress, look this one even covers you for swearing!" Patty beamed, holding up one book with a decoratively colored in middle finger.

Maka laughed lightly, nodding her head in thanks.

"I brought your homework from class, I know you wouldn't be happy if you got behind Ox; plus it's funny to see how mad it makes him to lose when you're not even there." Kim noted, Jacqueline holding her textbooks from beside her.

No disagreeing with that.

For the next hours, the pain of her injuries could slip her mind, Liz trimmed off her edges and painted her nails a neat pastel pink while they enjoyed a mix of movies and she got caught up on all her school work.

"We'll be back again after school before the day of your big surgery. Until then we know Soul will keep you _**plenty **_of company." Kim whistled.

"You don't have to keep reminded me." She wrote out grumpily, not that it did anything to stop them.

Soul hadn't returned yet by 4 o clock and she was getting drowsy again, another dose of pain medication swimming through her system as she fell back into the sheets.

'_Maka, don't be stupid! I'll always protect you because I love-'He_ hadn't been able to finish his sentence then because she had broken out of his grip to go into the flames.

'_Was he really going to say that he-?" _She wondered, wishing she had stayed a bit longer so she could've heard him, to know that he felt the same before the blazes of the firestorm buried his voice in a smog of ashes and falling trees.

A part of her had been pushing herself to ask him ever since she had first awakened, but fear kept tugging at her.

And her voice was gone.

She sleepily turned her gaze towards the calendar in the corner, only 4 more days left till the day of the planned surgery.

'_I'll tell him then.'_

-**X-**

"Have you gone over the perioperative checklist with her? All her supplies are safely locked away in her room?!" Spirit asked urgently.

Stein pushed up his glasses, restraining back a sigh. "Spirit, you're acting as if you'll be taking part in her surgery."

"Just answer my damn question!" He snapped, about to break out into a pace again. Beside him, Soul was quiet. His hands deeply buried in his pockets as he stared off at pictures on the walls.

"Yes, the operating checklist was completed already. And both Soul and you have all of her personal belongings if I remember correctly. The surgery is planned to take roughly around an hour to 3 hours, I'll call you from the recovery room once we're done."

And so, the waiting game began.

Soul spent most of it away from Spirit, his nervous energy easily transferrable. Though he seemed to find comfort in eventually talking to the nurses walking about.

'_What happened to being worried?" _He thought, watching him from the corner of his eye before turning his focus back to his phone. He jammed his earbuds in and turned up his volume until he could no longer hear anything else around him.

'_Hey Soul, that's um Rhapsody in Blue you're listening to, right?' Maka asked, peeking her head in through his door._

_Soul arched a brow, sliding his headphones off. "And you knew that how?"_

_She huffed before standing up proudly, green eyes shimmering brightly. "Ah, I've been studying up on my music; that's how!"_

_Soul narrowed his eyes, swerving in his chair to face her curiously. "All the studying in the world hasn't helped you barely understand the difference between just __**music notes**_ _though."_

_Okay, so he supposed he __**maybe**__ deserved that Maka chop that came after that…_

"_Alright, I'll be honest. I've been listening to the smooth jazz stations on the radio when I study and I've heard this song come up a few times." She admitted._

_He grinned then, forgetting about his barely done homework as she avidly talked about the musicians and composers she had learned about from over the centuries._

"_See, not everything can be learned from a book, huh? Next time we should listen to the station together; I can __**teach **__you more than you probably ever could learn on your own." He smirked._

_Maka reddened, scoffing as she headed back out of his room. "You can't flirt and insult me at the same time."_

"Soul, wake up; the operation is done." A voice rang in his ears, and he grouchily shifted away until he dazedly noticed Stein's presence.

He nodded as he pointed in the direction of recovery. "The procedure was a success."

-**X-**

It seemed Stein had only told him Maka's operation was done.

Whether it was because he couldn't find Spirit considering the last time he himself saw him he was being his usual goofy self or it was because he was the first one he saw in the waiting room.

Either way, he was glad for the reserved moment he could have with her.

Maka looked notably much more comfortable then he had last seen her, skin gaining back its color and bandages not entangled all over her like just days ago.

But most of all she was smiling and didn't look like she was struggling to hide her pain.

She brightened as he quietly pulled back the curtain and pulled up a chair beside her. The recovery area felt so much more cramped compared to back when they were in her own private room.

"Soul, I do too." Maka hoarsely said once he was settled beside her and he blinked in confusion.

"Huh?"

She grinned, but coughed lightly while tapping at her wrapped neck. Stein warned her not to overdo it and rest her voice for at least a couple of days, but she had to speak.

To respond to what she had heard back then.

"From the fire, I caught what you said." She went on slowly.

It was only then he understood what she meant.

"I wanted you to be the first to hear my voice again." She murmured, cut off as Soul rubbed his thumb against her lips before leaning forward.

Because nothing more really needed to be said.

-x-


	11. Meteor Showers

**11: Meteor Showers (Manga)**

"Come on Soul, this a rare chance! I can't pass this opportunity up when over the last couple of years, it's been way too cloudy or rainy to see the event!" Maka stated once more by his ear.

Its early, probably not even 10:00 am yet.

And to top it off it's the weekend; _**supposed**_ to be that lucky one time of the week where he can sleep in.

But it's hard to resist Maka's crooning for him to get up…or ignore the fact she's positioned herself compromisingly on top of him.

"Maka, isn't this storm event or whatever only happen at night? And not for another like another good couple of hours?" Soul griped, moving his sheets down just enough to meet her eyes.

He shouldn't have looked.

Verdant eyes glimmered in the morning light that slipped through his blinds and he gulped, almost wanting to sink his head back under the covers at her knowing smile.

'_I can't keep letting her tease, smooth talk, or guilt me into things…' _He reminded himself.

Even if that was easier said than done.

"Why can't you ask Tsubaki or Black Star to come with you on this, huh? The two of them are more of night owls than I am." He remarked.

Maka shook her head, smile fading into a scowl. "You know that wouldn't be the same Soul." '_And I was hoping to be able to watch it with you for once this year...'_

But she dropped the topic for now, climbing off of him to go get breakfast or perhaps lunch ready. She should've known that Blair's advice to 'come on' to Soul wouldn't exactly work.

Soul sighed at the loss of her warmth, tossing his covers off as he watched her go.

Why was this meteor shower so important to her anyways?

He hated to admit it, but now he was mildly curious.

Maka was stirring at a bowl of eggs as he approached, concentration focused on blending the ingredients until he tapped her shoulder.

She jumped, mix of the goopy combination spilling onto her blue apron. "Geez, Soul you could've announced your arrival instead of sneaking up on me!"

He simply grinned crookedly in return, ignoring the waft of spices and Maka's scent at being so close to her.

"So…what is it about this meteor shower that makes you so badly want to see it?"

Maka scoffed, turning her attention back to the bowl. "Why does it matter? You made it clear that you didn't care to see it."

Great, she was pissed.

But, he could fix this; he just had to use a bit of that easygoing charm she secretly loved so much, right?

He wrapped an arm around her waist, smirking at the rise of goosebumps and flush that gave way at his touch. Her hands tightened against the wooden ladle and for a second he wasn't sure if she was about to use it as a weapon.

"Let go." She huffed.

"No, not until you tell me why this is so important to you." He replied, pulling her in closer.

Maka gave him a side glance, smiling curving at her lips for a moment and he relaxed briefly in the belief _**maybe**_ she wasn't as mad as he originally thought.

Until she jabbed him with her elbow to go away.

Looks like he was making that trip to the library.

-**X-**

"Soul? What are you doing here; especially on a Saturday afternoon?' Kid questioned.

Well, at least he could be thankful that it was Kid who caught him here and not Black Star. He would never hear the end of that…

"I can't spend an afternoon catching up on homework and my studies?" He attempted casually.

Golden eyes narrowed as he furrowed a brow. Okay, he supposed there was no chance he could fool the Shinigami.

"Alright I admit I'm a bit lost in here, I'm trying to find books on space and astronomy stuff." He grumbled.

He could tell Kid was truly trying not to laugh at him, lips quirking to attempt to keep a neutral expression.

"I'll lead you to that section, you won't find it in the fiction section where we're currently at." He regarded, guiding them to the other side of the library.

He would never understand how he or Maka could navigate themselves so easily around here. The DWMA's library was like a maze, shelves brimming with books up to the ceilings. It was dark and quiet considering it was the weekend too, dim lights at each aisle barely helping him to see what was in front of him.

No wonder he always felt so sleepy when he was here with Maka.

"Might I ask why you're so suddenly curious to read about the science of space and what not? I never picked you as the type to enjoy that genre…if you were to actually enjoy reading that is." Kid asked conversationally.

Soul frowned, burying his hands deep within his leather jacket. He could feel his cheeks getting warm and hoped the darkness of the room was enough to perhaps hide it.

"It's not for me, it's for Maka. Just wanted to research some event to figure out why she was so curious about it." He muttered.

Of course that just made Kid smirk, knowing his clear intentions.

'_So they got into some type of argument again, huh?'_

He brushed off the dust of an array of books as they reached the proper section, pushing about 3 books Soul's way as they took a seat at a nearby table.

"I figure this might involve the upcoming meteor shower, correct? I think you'll gather some clues from going over these." He explained.

Soul stared long and hard at the textbooks, they weren't particularly thin.

And Kid knew that.

But for once he didn't gripe, grabbing the first one off the pile to begin reading (aka skimming) through it.

"Are you sure you can't just tell me what's in these books that will give me the answer?" He asked after reading only 1 page.

Kid shook his head, laughing lightly. "Now where would the fun be in that?"

-**X-**

It's approaching 3:00 pm when Soul realizes he's blanked out.

He's been reading the same page over and over for the past 30 minutes. Kid has already left him alone over an hour ago, but not without reminding them they have death scythe training following by a monthly meeting on Monday morning.

Now his head hurts.

'_Alright, alright. Surely I wrote down something pertinent or was able to retain something out of all that reading.' _He told himself.

He glanced down at the scrap sheet of paper he had brought along with him. The most he had written down was that the meteor shower was categorized under the Leonids: a period of annual meteor showers that came for around a week in November or close to this time of year.

Definitely not enough to figure out why it really irked Maka that he didn't want to go; there must've been something more significant behind it.

"Maybe getting some lunch might help me think." He considered, closing back all the books and stretching out his arms.

It was nice to get up and move about after sitting for so many hours, even if the cool breezes made him shiver. Though it was a nice change of pace after the scorching summer months that had just passed.

As he neared the usual bistro where he liked to eat or pick up a quick snack, he paused in his stride at the sight of crimson hair.

Spirit. And he wasn't alone.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, discreetly walking backwards until he was shrouded under the cover of some bushes. Next to Spirit was the typical type of woman he liked, busty blonde with wavy long hair and clothes that were much too tight and short.

But what surprised him the most was Maka's presence across from the duo at the table with them.

Maka huffed, hugging her gray jacket closer. Her pigtails were messy from being tossed by the wind and her cheeks were quickly growing flushed either from the cold or the embarrassment of potentially being seen in such a situation.

"Papa, you honestly forgot; didn't you?" Maka started, not bothering to hide the ire from lacing her tone.

The woman hanging off him politely excused herself to get some coffee, leaving the pair alone. Spirit shifted, twiddling his thumbs nervously.

"Of course I didn't forget sweetie! It's just that I thought you- "He started only for Maka to hold up a hand to stop him.

"Never mind. If it's not important to you anymore, then it shouldn't be important to me." She grumbled, abruptly standing up and leaving.

Spirit cried out for her to stay, haphazardly moving to follow after her only to trip over his chair in the process. Soul watched as she hurriedly passed by him, unknowing of his presence.

Tears were brimming in her eyes.

She was swept up in the crowd before Spirit could even get close and he decided then to make himself known by getting into his viewpoint.

Not the best time to, but still.

Spirit looked the epitome of sad, nose runny with fresh tear streaks running down his face that would've looked funny if hadn't already known the meaning behind them.

"I'll talk to her; don't worry." He began.

Spirit wiped his face against the sleeve of his shirt, sadness quickly turning to anger. "You were just standing there spying on us?!"

Soul simply shrugged in response.

"Humph, I don't get what Maka sees in being with a jerk like you, watching her yell at her own Papa like that!" He scoffed.

"It isn't anything I haven't seen before." Soul responded, restraining an eye roll.

He hadn't come to start fighting or arguing with him, he needed more answers after all.

"Listen, Maka has really be interested in seeing this upcoming meteor shower. At first I maybe thought it was just one of her nerdy perks related to science, but it goes beyond that; doesn't it?" He related.

Spirit grunted, expression becoming serious as he gazed upward. It was a relatively clear day, only thin streaks of white clouds amid the cobalt sky.

"I…I didn't think it was important to her anymore. I shouldn't have been so stupid, it's just the past years it's been either rainy or cloudy so it was hard to see the meteors when nightfall eventually came."

Soul clearly had no idea what he meant, so he sighed and went on.

"Back when Kami and I were still together we made it an annual event to watch the meteor showers every year. We would travel out of Death City and watch them for an hour or so before heading back home. Maka would always try to stay up as late as possible or get up early to try and see it, setting alarms and hurrying to wake us up before it ended. I guess…as she got older and then the divorce happened…I didn't think she cared about events like it anymore, especially since we haven't done the tradition in a long while." He explained.

'_It should be clear tonight; the forecast doesn't call for rain, fog, or any other weather event that could mess up not seeing the meteor showers. Maybe she wanted to start the tradition again with me…' _Soul realized.

"Well, you've already pissed her off enough. I'll take her to go see it." He resigned.

Spirit snorted, opening his mouth to retort but closed it at seeing Soul's sincere expression.

"I know you will."

-**X-**

'_Stupid Papa, stupid Soul, stupid everybody!' _Maka hissed repetitively to herself.

And why hadn't Soul answered any of her texts or calls all day?! He had disappeared soon after breakfast saying he was going to go play basketball and video games with Black Star, but said visit to his and Tsubaki's apartment brought up no mention of either events occurring.

"Ugh, I'm ready to be done with this day!" She growled, scrubbing the dishes with more force than necessary. She stopped as soon as heard the crackle of the plates beginning to snap due to her pressure.

'_Where is he though? He should at least tell me if he had other plans come up…' _She pondered, gazing outside through the kitchen window.

It was getting late, already close to 10 o clock and she was left alone to her wandering thoughts with Blair gone for the night to work at Chupacabra's.

Maybe she should just go to bed early, at best that would hopefully keep this worrying ideas of Soul's safety at bay.

But she was awoken again hours later to the bleary light of her lamp on and Soul hovering over her, grin much too wide and excited considering the time of day and who he was.

"Come on; get up!" He said urgently, already tossing her bedspread off.

Maka shot him an infuriated look, tossing the nearest book by her bedside straight at him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you know what time it is?!"

Soul effortlessly dodged her attacks in her drowsy state, even able to help her undress before she realized what he was doing and actually landed a strike on him.

"What's going on; is there some emergency?" She yawned, shoving his hands away as best she could when he began tickling her awake.

Soul stood from her bed and pushed her curtain open, the orange glow of the streetlights poured into her room, but she looked upward past the buildings to where he was pointing and saw it.

A faint streak of light.

"Hurry up and get changed. I was a bit late on coming back because I had to get gas for my motorcycle and I knew I would need _**some **_sleep if we were going to drive far enough out of the city to get away from the light pollution." Soul regarded.

Maka blinked, taking in his words slowly. "You…you want to see the meteor shower?"

Soul shrugged, feeling embarrassed at the slow grin she began to send him. "I just figured since it had been tradition with you and your parents before that it could become a tradition of ours as well…"

The beam and squeal of delight Maka let out made getting those whole 3 hours of sleep worth it.

"Don't fall asleep on me before we get there, remember you were the one who badly wanted to see this." Soul grumbled.

Maka responded by simply poking his sides, leaning her head away from his back. "Shut it."

They both went silent though as they finally reached a good place far enough from the city, Soul cut off the lights and engine of his bike to follow Maka's gaze upward.

Streaks of bright flashes raced over them, brief flickers of green left in their paths. Maka hummed, snuggling into Soul's side. Neither of them had prepared for this type of cold though and she wiggled at her toes and fingers to keep them from going numb.

Soul would probably use any potential sickness they got from being out here as an excuse for a sick day come Monday. (And perhaps she would too)

"Thank you Soul." She breathed out on the ride home.

"Anytime."

~x~

_What would you like next? Feel free to drop a suggestion!_


	12. Blizzard

_The taboo love affair between popular Maka Albarn and loner Soul Eater Evans is sure to make junior year fun for some and hell for others…_

**12: Blizzard AU**

It's the first day of winter went she actually meets him.

The annual winter field trip she's been looking so forward to, crushed as she reads her name across from his on the board as her field trip partner: the one she must look out for incase anything goes wrong.

"_Ooh, sorry to hear that Maka, that sucks! Getting stuck with a creepy loner like him…" Liz trailed off from over her shoulder as she looked for her own partner's name._

'_Death the Kid. How convenient.' Maka notes at her gleeful grin._

_She must've buttered up Ms. Marie in order for that to happen. Marie __**never **__gave people the partners they wanted when it came to group assignments or things like this; considering it more like a mad scientist experiment to make sure everyone in the class worked together and got to know each other at least once. (Probably got the idea from hanging out too much with fellow science professor Dr. Stein…)_

_Maka restrained back a sigh, forcing on a smile. "You and Tsubaki are lucky, getting partnered with guys you at least are friendly with."_

_Tsubaki shook her head from her side, face coloring with a red hue. "Black Star and I don't know each that well!"_

_Maka and Liz sent each other looks. Who was she trying to fool?_

_Just about __**anybody **__in the junior class at Death City High knew about their relationship. (Even the people they barely knew like Hiro or the underclassmen in the NOT classes)_

_Liz patted her shoulder. "Relax Tsubaki, we don't care if you're dating the guy! He fits into our clique anyways being a part of the football and track teams, despite his annoying boasting...its Maka here who we have to worry about; what will people say when they see her hanging out with __**that **__guy?!"_

_Maka bit her lip, stomach churning at Liz's indifferent coldness towards the man._

_Soul couldn't be that bad, could he?_

_But as Liz and even sometimes Kim loved to point out, the man was an enigma._

_Unlike her popular little clique of friends, she never saw Soul hang out with anybody and he didn't seem to belong to any clubs either. A few girls in the grades younger than them were attracted to that 'bad boy' image he gave off; a perpetual bored look on his face matched with piercing crimson eyes and spiked back white hair. His hands always seemed to be in his pockets as he loitered from hallway to hallway._

_It was hard at times to even define herself as popular anyways. She certainly didn't fit the cliché definition one. Nicknamed the 'bookworm' of the group, she lacked the figure Liz and Tsubaki had and the bubbliness of even Patty…_

_And yet, people of course knew not the mess with her. (Especially after that bullying incident with new transfer student Crona.) Not only because her father was unfortunately one of the vice principals at the school, but because she was president of the student council, a top officer in the school's color guard team, and knew a few martial arts moves to boot. _

'_Meanwhile, Soul was in…? Um, I really don't know anything about him.' Maka told herself._

"_But I can change that, no big deal." She whispered confidently as Liz continued to gush over the threats to her popularity status._

_She would be spending an entire weekend stuck with Soul as her 'field trip buddy' to make sure this final assignment got done. For the next few days up until left for the winter retreat into the mountains she could get to know him, rather as well try to make the best of it after all._

Maka had retreated from the group shortly afterwards on the premise of going to library to get in some last minute studying before an exam she had next period.

Nobody questioned her though on why she went the opposite direction of said library.

'_I know Black Star mentioned Soul likes to hang out behind the school. Ick, I hope he isn't the type of person who tries to sneak around to smoke or drink.' _

She shook the thought away before she continued to cast anymore judgment. Black Star had mentioned in passing to her Soul wasn't as bad as their group thought, having hung out with once or twice to play a few games together.

"He's got a bad rep all because of some silly rumors started back when we were freshman. Trust me, _**I **_know what I'm talking about!" He boasted proudly with a laugh.

That made people believe him even _**less.**_

Maka hugged her jacket closer, smiling at the memory nonetheless. It was finally getting cooler now as she passed under the colorful mix of reds and oranges in the leaves, enjoying the light brush of air on her face. It still didn't feel anything like winter, but she couldn't wait to see some actual snow for once compared to the constant sunshine Death City had.

Soul doesn't hear her approaching, despite how noisy it seemed like she was being with crunch sound the leaves make as she stepped.

Maka blinked, studying him carefully. He's crouched under the shade of the tree, head downcast as he stares intently at the sheets spread out by him.

Upon closer inspection she realizes its music sheets.

"Soul?" Maka called out, his name slips out before she considers the consequences of just sneaking up on him like this.

Because startled, he turns and sends her a glare and it looks so similar to the ones she and her friends are used to sending_** him.**_

-**X-**

"What do you want? Isn't social suicide to be near me or something?" He grouched.

Maka frowned, watching as he not very subtly tried to hide the work he had just been doing. "Haven't you seen the Ms. Marie's message board?"

Soul rolled his eyes, annoyance unchanged. "I skipped class."

"Well then, _**if **_you had gone to class you would've known she made us partners for the weekend winter trip." Maka started.

"Who says I'm going on that?" He scoffed.

Maka bit her lip, feeling the prickle of rage building. Soul clearly knew he was getting under her skin, smirk beginning to light his face.

"The trip isn't just for fun you know, it's a part of our grade to write a report on the nature and landscape to turn in by next Monday."

"So…if I don't go or help you does that mean you'll get an F for once in your life?" He mused and Maka let loose, slamming her textbook down onto his head.

'_No wonder he has no friends, why would anyone want to hang out with a jerk like him?! Black Star was way off about him!' _Her thoughts hissed, stomping away from him.

She didn't notice Soul eyes trailing after her.

'_Perhaps I messed with her a bit too far, it's not like she was trying to be rude.' _Soul considered.

He might not know much about Maka, but he knew how much grades mattered to her.

'_Maybe I can persuade Ms. Marie to let me change partners, we have a friendly enough relationship so surely…'_ Maka's thoughts continued sourly, making her way to Ms. Marie's classroom.

"Maka, I made those partner assignments weeks ago! I'm not going to change it just because you had one little love squabble-"Marie hummed.

Maka flustered, nearly throwing her hands up defensively. "Love squabble?! Soul and I barely know each other!"

She arched a brow, flicking her blonde hair out of her face. "Oh, really? Then why is Soul waiting for you behind us? He probably wants to apologize; just kiss and make up already!"

If Maka hadn't been so embarrassed by her words, she would've noticed Soul close up on her sooner.

"Well, you heard the woman." He taunted by the shell of her ear.

-**X-**

"I didn't deserve that second hit." Soul voiced again, nursing the growing bruise on his cheek. It still hurt to properly eat and chew food.

Maka ignored him, taking in a sip of her cocoa. Tomorrow was the big day.

The city had been experiencing rare occurrences of freezing rain and sleet since yesterday, the streets blanketed in pebbles of white as the grey sky went on for miles.

Despite her friend's offers to hang out, she had sneaked off to see Soul. Again.

Her face heated the more she thought about it. All week she had just been telling herself this was only because she wanted to make sure they knew each other well enough before the trip so they could get their assignment done properly.

But the more rational side could admit she was curious. '_Ever since I saw those music sheets, I've been wondering…'_

He avoided the topic every time she asked about them.

Nevertheless, Soul hadn't stopped wanting to meet up with her too, they changed locations every day; nobody from school knew what they were doing.

"Soul, are you sure you don't want anything to drink or eat; aren't you cold?" Maka asked, looking up for her drink.

Soul shook his head, crooked grin she was beginning to like a bit too much striking his face. "No, I like watching you more."

He laughed as she started to choke mid-gulp.

When Maka first suggested these outings, he nearly blew it off as another odd nerdy quirk of hers. Getting to know her though could mean she could spill gossip on her friends he could use against her. (Because he knew about all the cruel things they said about him behind his back.) But Maka rarely, if ever brought them up.

'_I guess she isn't exactly like them.' _He realized on day three of their outings. Maka was friendly towards everyone, no matter if her friends consider it a social faux pas. She truly wanted to get to know him and admitted she thought he was weird at first, but he had felt the same towards her.

"I heard the weather is supposed to get worse this weekend. Some snowstorms or blizzards something coming from up north to here." Soul remarked, gazing upward.

Jade eyes followed his gaze, hands reaching out to catch the drops of ice pellets. The warmth of her hands made them instantly start to melt.

"Really, I hope not…"

Soul studied her for a moment as she continued to catch the drops between her fingers, reddening when she caught his gaze briefly and smiled.

"Let's get out of here." He grumbled.

Maka pursed her lips, finishing off her drink in one swig. "And do what?"

Soul scratched a hand through his hair, sighing. "To the music store, I'll show you what I've been working on."

And it was hard to ignore the twinge in his chest as Maka beamed. "Really?!"

He rolled his eyes, trying not to smile himself. "Though I doubt you'll understand what's going on since music is one of the things you're actually crappy at."

This time, he was able to narrowly miss the swing of her book.

Though they missed the pair of eyes that followed after them, concerned looks on their faces.

"Wasn't that Maka just now?" Kim muttered in awe, crossing her arms as she gazed at the man beside her.

Liz nodded, clicking her tongue in disgust. She knew Maka was nice, but certainly even she had to have her limits. '_Maybe Soul has some blackmail on her or something, there's no other reason why she would…'_

"Don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this."

-**X-**

"And make sure to wear double layers of bright clothing, you want to be visible with all the snow surrounding you!" Spirit cried out, attempting to adjust Maka's hat until she not so gently pushed him back.

Oh why oh why did he have to be one of the chaperones for this trip?

"Papa, you've reminded me a million times already; I know the protocol! Besides, I want to go hang out with the others and take some pictures, okay?"

She ignored his cries of despair she was growing up much too fast.

Anyways, everyone had been acting weird around her since they had arrived at the mountain lodge. Tsubaki had mentioned they were just sleepy from having to get up so early for the bus ride, but she could tell it was a lie.

Her head pounded with several ideas, ignoring the awkwardness she felt at people she barely knew shying away from her and whispering behind her back.

'_I don't know what I did to get on their bad sides, but I'll find out definitely before this day is over.' _Maka concluded.

She finds Liz at the dining hill, muttering something lowly with the others. She barely picks up her name and Soul's before Kid abruptly notices her presence.

And her stomach sinks at the frown he gives her before he shakes his head.

'_They know.' _Her heart lurches in realization at the silent message.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Maka asked, purposely clearing her throat to get everybody's attention.

Kim is the first to speak up, pink hair swishing from underneath her wool cap. "Maka! Just who we were waiting for! Come with us, we're going to check out the ski slopes and forest path."

Maka scrunched her face, were they just going to pretend she hadn't heard them mentioning Soul?

"Um okay, that's fine with me…" She trailed off, waiting for Liz and Patty to follow with.

Her heart thumps faster when they don't.

"Aren't you guys coming too? It will be boring to sit in the lodge all day unless you're working on your report?" Maka asks over her shoulder, despite Kim attempting to drag her along.

Liz shakes her head, flicker of a frown passing over her a face. "Ah, we'll catch up! Patty and I want to check out the sauna and gift shop, right?"

She quickly elbowed Patty who was half-asleep still. "Hmm? Oh right!"

It's the last time she really sees them for the rest of the day.

And Maka just can't get it out of her head that something is horribly wrong. She can't enjoy the sights, the food, or her friends with this fear prickling her skin.

Tsubaki fidgets and plays with her ebony hair until she finally breaks and pulls her aside just before they head over to slope two.

"Go find Soul!" She hisses by her ear, making sure Kim and Jacqueline can't hear her.

Maka gulped, shifting her legs. "W-What do you mean?"

The anxiousness in her eyes makes her shudder. "Liz, she just wanted to pull a prank you know. To get you and Soul to stop hanging out so much, but…this isn't right, it's gone too far…"

Maka led them away from the hill before prying eyes and ears continued to listen in, reaching out to squeeze her hands. "Tell me."

Tsubaki nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. "She told him you wanted to meet him off the forest trail, I didn't think he would believe but then when Liz texted me he went for it…"

Maka stilled, not hearing anything else she said.

-**X-**

"You can't go out there Maka, it's dangerous! There could be an avalanche or worse with how fast the temperatures are dropping!" Liz sputtered, trying to hold Maka back only to have her grip harshly wrenched away.

"It's _**your **_fault this happened!" She hissed with emphasis, tearing her gaze away from her to the guilty looks the rest of her supposed 'friends' possessed.

It was evening and Soul still hadn't returned yet.

The snow had piled up enough that the instructors had closed down the slopes and trails early, vision too obscured by the haze of white and grey.

Maka slipped on her snow boots and jackets, ignoring the stares she got and threats to tell Ms. Marie or her dad.

"Go ahead and tell them! They probably don't even realize he's gone!" She growled.

She weaved her way through the groups watching the flurries, waiting for the right moment when none of them were looking to make her escape.

'_Stupid, stupid! Why couldn't you have just slept in like you always do?' _She cursed Soul, calling his name repeatedly into the howl of wind. All her flashlight illuminated was whiteness for miles.

Her steps were quickly disappearing into the snow, piles covering and numbing her in spite of the layers she had on.

And then she found him. Lying face down.

"Soul!" Maka gasped, stumbling over to him and abandoning her flashlight in the process.

She shook at him constantly, biting back sobs. He had a pulse thank goodness, but he wasn't answering to her…

"Come on Soul damn it; stay with me!" Maka grunted, trying to warm him up as best she could. His lips had gained a ghastly bluish tinge and he was become a sickly pale.

Maka cracked her knuckles, hoisting him up as best she could and moving them to a grotto she spotted amid the breaks in wind. Going by memory from health classes, she hastily removed his wet clothes snuggling close to him and sighed.

'_I don't have any supplies with me to help…no blankets, or warm drinks I could give him. I should've stayed with more; we're supposed to be partners on this trip.' _She berated herself.

Her lips tingled and she blinked in deliberation. Just being close to him didn't seem to be enough after all…

And she had imagined kissing him under much more romantic circumstances as she pressed into him, sharing as much of her body heat as best she could until she finally saw his lips gain back a faint redness.

And he started to return the action.

Maka pulled back, studying him. His breathing wasn't so slow anymore.

Soul gazed back at her dazedly. "I didn't require CPR."

Maka let out a mix of a cry and a laugh, leaning back into him. '_You scared me idiot!'_

She could feel him squeezing her back, nuzzling into her as if he heard her. '_I know; sorry.'_

-**X-**

Soul stifled a yawn, leaning back from the wall. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

Maka nodded, fiddling with her backpack. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Soul shrugged, not saying anything. He could tell she was a bit uncomfortable no matter how much she stubbornly refused to admit it, cheeks pink from all the stares they were getting.

After the fiasco of that mountain trip, everyone knew the status of their relationship.

But Maka wasn't embarrassed to be around him, more like unsure how to handle they were really dating.

'_I figured Maka would have already gone on plenty of dates by now with how popular she was.' _Soul noted, grinning as he reached out to squeeze her hand until she let out a squeak of surprise.

Girls sent her strange looks, as if they saw her in a completely different light and men shook their heads either out of jealousy she picked him or confusion as to why.

Her friends were still a bit wary of him, but they had warmed up to the prospect with Black Star and even Kid vouching for him.

"You're not ashamed of me, are you?" Soul voiced and Maka gasped, shaking her head in shock.

"Oh no; of course not! More like just ashamed I tried to keep us a secret for so long… I'm sorry. I don't care if I become a social outcast like you!" She exclaimed proudly.

'_Is that meant to make me feel better?' _Soul wondered.

He pulled her into a corner of the hall, smirking as her breath hitched. "For once, I can actually start looking forward to school…"

Maka nodded, leaning up towards him to meet him halfway in the kiss. "Good, I'll make sure the rest of our junior year and senior year is just as exciting as this past weekend."

And it's only a couple of minutes later when their broken apart by a familiar screech.

"Hey, no PDA in the halls! Especially not with my daughter!"

-x-

_Any weather themes you want to see next? Feel free to let me know and thanks for reading as always!_


	13. Heatwave

_AN: Decided to get a little lemony with this one-shot ;). It's been a year since Soul's been away from Death City and as hard as it is to believe, Maka has indeed changed; in more ways than one._

**13: Heatwave**

The first time Soul truly notices Maka has changed is when she comes to pick him and her sleazy dad up from the airport.

And while all of Spirit's attention is focused on the flight attendants and custodians running about, Soul can only see Maka getting closer, waving them over with a bright grin.

Except it doesn't look like her.

But he knows it must be her, wavelength calling out to him in silent resonance. Gone are her trademark pigtails he's used to, replaced with one single ponytail holding up her ash blonde hair, she's taller now too he notes before his eyes trail downward and he gulps.

'_I can't joke about her body anymore...'_

"Soul, welcome home!" Maka cheers, interrupting his thoughts before they get any deeper. Its summer time so _**of course **_her clothes have to be thin and light too, blue sundress and matching white shorts hugging her body tightly.

This _**really **_shouldn't be affecting him so much.

He's talked to Maka multiple times through text, facetiming, and phone calls. He knew how she was going to look based on Black Star's stupid remarks, but…

Still he was unprepared.

"Maka, Maka, thank you so much for coming to pick us up!" Spirit burst in, practically creating a wall between the two to hug her.

And strangely, Maka doesn't shove him way; at least not immediately.

'_How many things have changed since we've been gone?' _Soul wonders.

The afternoon heat is blazing as they step out into the departure pick up area, sun sweltering the pavement with no clouds in sight to provide any brief respites and immediately sweat starts to cling to his white locks. Its one thing that hasn't changed at all: Death City summers are unbearable.

"I parked in Garage B, hope you guys can handle a bit more walking I hope." Maka chimes out, grabbing a duffle bag from his arms and swinging it over her shoulder.

"Purposely picking the smallest and easiest thing to carry, huh?" Soul muses to which Maka sends him a smirk.

"What, you should be happy that I even decided to come pick you guys up instead of having to spend money at those park-and-rides where you have to wait on the bus or monorail to come." She retorts.

Well, she had a good point there.

And the cool blast of her air condition is a welcome relief over continuing to be under the heat outside.

Spirit oddly has no qualms about him taking the passenger seat next to her either, hopping into the back seat without question and soon falling asleep to lull of the road.

No complaining over being shot down by every woman he asked out or Maka's quietness? Perhaps he was just tired from the trip; he hadn't slept as much as him on the thirteen hour flight home.

"Papa already knocked out back there?" Maka questioned as she made another turn through the streets.

Soul nodded to which Maka sighed in relief. "Good. I can avoid having him question me on what I've been doing while he was away for a bit longer."

Soul leaned his head against his palm, arching a brow. "What, been up to trouble messing around with guys to give him a heart attack?"

Maka rolled her eyes, shifting into the next lane when she had an opening. For a moment, jade eyes shifted towards him mischievously and his heart thumped.

"No, though that could change _**soon**__." _She eventually hummed.

Her insinuation wasn't lost on him and he quickly looked away before she saw his face redden, anywhere but that mysterious gaze she continued to send from time to time the whole way home.

And stupidly, he didn't dare try to flirt back.

-X-

"Where's Blair?" Soul asks, plopping his luggage down into his room.

It's odd to be back and not have Blair pop out to give him one of her infamous 'hugs'.

A somber look crosses Maka's face, glancing towards the empty cat bowl of their once part time cat/roommate.

"She moved out a couple of months ago, she had been having this fling with a guy who had similar abilities to hers for transforming and magic. I didn't expect it to be serious at first you know; just another regular of hers at Chupacabra's who liked her and she had few dates with until she said she wanted to start staying at his place." She explained.

"Did you ever meet this guy or…?" He went on.

Maka wrinkled her nose, huffing out a short yes. The picture she showed of them off her phone of the pair _**did **_make them look good together; tall with a dark tan and curly jet black hair blended well with the enigmatic glow of his light blue eyes.

"He's touchy-feely like Blair; guess that's another thing that made them so compatible." Maka murmured lightly.

His stomach absently tightens hearing that. Images of another guy holding or getting wound up with Maka in similar fiascos as the incidents he's had with Blair…

"What's wrong?" Maka suddenly asks.

And it's only then he realizes he's tightened his hands into fists. There must be a subdued fury shining in his crimson eyes as he steadies his breathing.

"Nothing." He lies.

Maka leaned away from her position on the couch, studying him as if he was a book or one of the many puzzles she liked to solve.

But she said nothing.

"So, what_** are**_ you thinking about then? I know you don't like to talk much, though you must have plenty of stories to share while you were away in Europe." Maka muses.

There isn't much he can tell her regarding that, when he wasn't in the midst of some Death Scythe meeting or out on a mission, he's either sleeping or eating much to her usual aggravation and amusement.

"One thing I thought I wouldn't miss was the weather here, but England can have some dreary weather. It rained a lot during the time I was there or it was cloudy a lot."

"England, huh?" Maka whispers and he frowns at the wistful gaze in her expression. Something _**big **_he realizes then has happened since he's been gone, not just Blair's moving out or her and Father's relationship suddenly being a lot calmer…

It's a sour topic he puts in the back of his mind to ask her about later.

"Once you've adjusted to being back here in a day or two, you'll miss it. The heat here has been horrible; the news has mentioned people fainting from heat stroke in the 100 degree weather days from not staying hydrated enough." She pointed out.

And to emphasize, she heads into the kitchen and returns with two water bottles, fresh from the fridge as she plops down beside him to pass him one.

But he doesn't drink his though, instead he watches in fashion as she drinks _**hers. **_

Her pink lips are wet with droplets of water and before he truly thinks about it, he reaches to swipe away at the remnants with his thumb.

This time it's her face that gains a red hue at said action, darkening when he presses his thumb to his own lips to taste it.

'_What are you doing to me?' _Soul ponders, pleased as Maka bit her lip in nervous tension.

"I…I don't know if I said it, but I'm glad you're home. It gets lonely and boring here, no matter how many assignments I take on to distract myself from coming back to an empty place."

Soul looked around, the apartment hasn't changed give or take a few new pictures up and strangely less books cluttered about.

Maka's scent too is familiar and welcoming; a blend of her usual strawberry shampoo and jasmine lotions.

His hands reach to curl around hers and she stiffens before relaxing at the motion, leaning into him subtly.

"It's not like you were alone all the time. I'm sure Black Star had plenty of opportunities to annoy you in my place and Tsubaki and Liz stopped by." He mentioned.

'_Go for this Maka, use whatever excuse you have in that big brain of yours to reel him in! And when you two get to bed, start with the ice! This hot weather makes for a perfect justification to use it!' _

Ugh, now _**definitely wasn't**_ the time to be mentally hearing Liz's mental cheering or innuendos.

"True, but it's not the same; it's never the same as _**your **_infuriating behavior." She teased.

"Oh really? I'll see if you say the same thing or start calling me a 'know-it all' ass in a couple of days." He chuckled.

She almost wanted to make a nasty retort to that, but shrugged it off. They had some effect on each other and she wasn't ready to push boundaries…

Yet.

Flirting was much lighter territory.

-X-

"So…have you gotten to third base yet or what?" Black Star repeats.

Soul almost wishes he had just stayed inside and burned up.

And Black Star snorts at his lack of responding, ranting that someone should've made _**some **_move by now or else he'll have to start taking measures.

He's only been back for about a month or now, but nothing has changed in terms of his relationship with Maka. They go out on what may be called 'dates' but they never call it that, they hang out and study like normal, but…

Their still stuck in a limbo of teasing each other and dancing around said subject. Though today Maka must be feeling bolder, coming to the beach in a two-piece bikini…

Her eyes catch his just as she's coming out of the water to dry off again before heading back into the sea, beckoning him over from his current position under the shade of the umbrellas.

"She wore that for you, you know. A red bikini doesn't remind you of anything or any_**one**_?" Black Star mutters by his ear and like an annoying bug, he swats and elbows him hard to shut up before getting up.

Anything now would be better than continuing to listen to him.

"What took you so long to get tired of Black Star?" Maka asks amusingly, wafting over to him from the deeper blue waters. The water is surprisingly cool despite the sun continually to bear down on them. Seawater brushes against his mouth as he moves to meet her halfway, spitting away at the salt that clings to his tongue.

Soul smiled crookedly, leaning back slightly. "I was trying to be polite and hear him out."

Maka hummed thoughtfully. "About what?"

The words escape his lips before he even thinks it through. "You."

Her cheeks fluster in surprise, wafting halting. "Me? About what…I swear if you were making some type of crude joke I'll…"

"I was staring at you a lot; that's why! He said…he said we move too slowly." Soul admitted, cutting her off.

Well, that was included in the things he had said.

The last thing he needed was a headache from a Maka chop on top of potential sunburns and heat stroke.

Maka opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it; instead averting her eyes into the murky waters below.

"You're always staring Soul, it's not the only thing you can do though…" She trailed off.

His stomach instantly flipped.

There were so many implications in such a shy statement and he reached a hand out to grab her arm in the chance that she'd drift away from him.

Or take back her words.

Maka won't look at him anymore, tightlipped at his silence. He can faintly in distance hear Black Star calling out to him that he and Tsubaki are leaving, though the noise of the waves and other people nearby muddles it out.

"I know." He eventually grumbles.

And Maka growls, lurching her hand back as emerald eyes sharpen.

"That's all you have to say?!" She hisses and it's impossible not to hear the hurt in her tone.

Soul blinked, gritting his teeth before his voice rose too. "What? Why are you getting mad all of a sudden?! This whole toying with each other we've been having…I didn't know if you were being serious or not. You've been acting so different since I came back."

He expected Maka to snap and truly hit him now for making such comments, but instead her eyes soften and she gulps. When she speaks again, her voice has become hoarsely and quiet.

"You…You're right; you can always see right through me."

She swims back to shore before he can question her.

-X-

Even with the air condition and fan on, heat still circulates the apartment.

Soul yawned drearily, staring at the last peaks of sunlight against the evening sky. A mix of red and orange create purple streaks across the sky as nightfall approaches.

Hopefully maybe it will cool down some at night.

He resists the urge to scratch at the peeling sunburn on his back, after Maka left he stayed under the sun for probably an unnecessary extra hour.

And when he finally got the nerve to return home and face her, he found the apartment empty.

'_Maka must've felt like this in all the months I was away.' _Soul realizes, brushing a hand through his hair.

His clock ticks on into stillness of the room and he finds himself nearly drifting asleep until he smells something outside his door.

'_Pizza?'_

Indeed in the kitchen are two boxes with the logo of Death City's pizzeria palace. Maka glances over her shoulder just as he steps in, nervous smile on her lips.

"I brought home a peace offering; I'm sorry I overreacted earlier…" Maka begins.

Soul simply waved it off. "Don't worry, I'm used to you and your quirks by now."

Neither make mention of the conversation for the rest of night, watching a set of old school movies until it's way past midnight.

But it's hard to ignore this lingering want, leaning into each other during breaks in the movie's scenes, fingers gliding to spots they shouldn't go…

'_I can't sleep.' _Maka breathes.

They only went to bed an hour ago and already she finds herself awake again.

3:13 am bores back at her from a quick glance at her phone before she turns over in her sheets twice more before sighing, getting up.

'_Soul can't be faring much better, can he?' _Maka assumes.

She thought wrong.

Cracking his door open slightly, she can see under the thin veil of moonlight Soul is completely, utterly, knocked out. His legs are twisted in awkward notion with one hanging off the bed, drool clinging to the edge of his mouth.

Not the most handsome moment for him.

"Soul, I can't sleep." Maka whispers, poking him lightly enough.

"Maka…" Soul murmured and she's surprised it was _**that **_easy to wake him…

"Don't lick me there." He continues and Maka flusters, grabbing the pillow beside him and smothering him until he gasps awake.

"What the hell!" He snapped, almost transforming his arm into a scythe until he sees Maka's flustered look and frowns.

"Huh? What's going on? Are we being attacked?" He asks in alarm, he flickered on his light and Maka winches before rapidly shaking her head.

"No, I couldn't sleep…though I see _**you **_weren't having any problems considering your dirty dreams." She mused.

Soul felt himself redden before smirking, arching a brow. "_**You're**_ the onewho couldn't sleep and had to wake me up to join you in that problem."

And as he expected, Maka had nothing against that.

"Anyways, just scoot over." She mumbled after a while.

Soul almost wanted to tease her more at her immaturity, but complied with her turning back off the lights in the process.

He could feel her pressing into him to find a comfortable position and he flinched before cautiously wrapping an arm around her to keep her close when she found one.

"I don't want you to be like Mama." Maka states into the darkness after a long while.

His sleepiness fades at her odd statement.

"While you were gone Soul, I did and learned so many things. I explored more of biology and teaching primarily with professor Stein. I even got weapons training with Tsubaki and Black Star when they weren't away on missions or I wasn't going solo. But then…I got a letter from Mama." Maka explained.

Her hair tickles his nose and she looks back up at him, voice getting softer. Sadder.

"She said she was coming to visit Death City for old times' sake. I told her at the time it was good opportunity to come since Papa wasn't around, we planned everything out in those days. She even said I could maybe travel with her for a bit if she properly cleared out her schedule; we exchanged numbers, messages, and I was so excited waiting for her to finally come…" Maka went on, voice airy and nostalgic.

And Soul felt his grip tighten on her when he felt something wet slide down his arm.

"I waited for hours at the airport, I thought maybe she missed her flight or it got delayed…but then I finally got an answer from her around 10 o clock that night saying something came up. I guess…I created a mask at that point, Papa helped me through a bit, but for long time I've been bottling it in. Everyone could see it too, I got rid of things that reminded me of her." Maka finished.

His mind went through images of Maka's notably barer bookshelf, her hair being cut, pictures tossed away or suddenly missing.

He rubbed her back soothingly and Maka sighed, wiping away at the last remnants of her tears.

"I'm good now. Thanks." She mumbled.

"If you want…you can stay here tonight." Soul voices.

And at feeling warmth strike her cheeks he clears his throat quickly. "I mean just to _**sleep.**_"

She nods hesitantly then, accepting the invitation.

-X-

It's around night 5 that Soul absently notices Maka doesn't have any more secrets or pressing matters to share with him while he's been away.

It doesn't get much cooler at night, but she still enjoys entangling herself into his small bed for company and warmth.

"Maka?" Soul grunts.

"Hmm?" She mutters back.

"…Don't you get hot being in my bed?" He asks. It's not truly the question he wants to ask, but still.

Maka yawns, sleepily turning over to face him. "Not really, why? If I get hot I'll just remove something."

Great. The image of a nude Maka will now keep him up all night.

"Soul…are you thinking inappropriately again?" Maka hums by his ear, giggling when he nearly rolls of the bed in response.

"No, are you?" He lips hover close to hers, breath fanning her face.

Maka's snickering becomes louder in turn, bluntly letting out a yes before his lips smolder hers. It's the first time either has acted so boldly and Maka relishes in the action, shyly curling fingers into his hair.

And each night onward they each get a little braver, kisses getting deeper, clothes getting shed.

"You still have this scar from all those years ago; when we first fought Crona…" Maka whispered, tracing a finger against his chest at his grunt.

"You have scars too; what type of battles were you getting into?" He mumbles into her stomach, kissing downward until he hears her gasp.

His fingers and lips have moved and memorized every part of her now.

"Soul, don't…" Maka moaned.

His hands clasped hers as he shifted above her, melding their bodies close. "I won't stop, not yet."

-X-

Over the next week or so, Black Star continues to send them a not so subtle grins and thumbs up.

How he's the first to notice the change in their relationship out of _**all **_their friends is a bit of a mystery.

Just as their leaving out of Stein's class, he slapped Soul's back hard before wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"So, you and Maka finally had the heat get to you and fu-"

"Don't finish that sentence." He growled.

Black Star opened his mouth to loudly retort before Soul pointed to Maka, holding up two textbooks threateningly.

"You were saying?" Soul mused.

"Oh, err never mind…"

-x-

_Been awhile but I finally got one of my ideas going. Feel free to leave any weather suggestions or ideas and thanks for reading as always! :D_


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